The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has attributed the country’s chronic electricity shortages to a combination of factors, including contractual agreements with neighbouring countries.
While Zimbabwe struggles to generate enough power to meet domestic demand, it is also bound by agreements to export electricity to countries like Namibia.
Victor Sibanda, a ZERA Research and Energy Efficiency Engineer, provided an overview of the power supply challenges during a media engagement with ZERA in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
He said that in 2023, Zimbabwe’s average electricity supply was around 1,640 megawatts, falling short of the average demand of 1,865 megawatts.
The situation worsened on November 5, 2024, when the country generated only 1,092 megawatts against a demand of 1,760 megawatts, creating a deficit of 668 megawatts.
Although imports helped cover part of the shortfall, supplying 235 megawatts, exports still amounted to 176 megawatts.
Sibanda explained that load shedding is a result of the need to balance limited supply with the demand for critical services.
He said that power distribution is uneven, with essential services such as hospitals, security installations, and water facilities being prioritized to avoid outages whenever possible. Said Sibanda:
We cannot have a hospital on load shedding, a water-based location, or institutions of security on load shedding, it’s a simple fact.
Sometimes, the substation where electricity is coming from, the line passes from a residential area to a hospital, people there will benefit because of that, not because we are not supposed to not shed them.
By nature of being close to the hospital, properties will also have the benefits and disadvantages of being close to the hospital.
He said load shedding was “not an issue of punishment” but an effort to “maintain an equilibrium of what we have and what the system will deliver.” Said Sibanda:
Mostly the ones who are affected are residential and other non-essential industries who are the ones who are affected. I don’t think there is favouritism when it comes to load shedding.
Don’t blame your local ZESA people. Sometimes they don’t even know when it happens. It’s controlled from somewhere.
They are actually asked to go and switch off where they are staying in some instances. It’s basically like that but it’s not a punishment.
The ZERA official also revealed that despite national shortages, Zimbabwe exports electricity to neighbouring countries. He said:
We send about zero to eight megawatts to Namibia, depending on availability because it’s a contractual agreement, it was financed by the Namibian government.
And how we repay it is if we do it, we supply the electricity. But when it’s out, we don’t supply the electricity.
Sibanda said exporting surplus electricity can be economically beneficial, especially when the national grid produces excess power during off-peak hours.
For instance, Zambia’s copper mining industry, which operates continuously, buys power from Zimbabwe during these hours when electricity is cheaper.
This arrangement enables Zimbabwe to generate revenue from surplus energy that cannot be stored. Said Sibanda:
Zambia operates its copper mines which require electricity 24/7. They might also choose to get electricity off-peak. That’s when electricity is cheap, probably Zambia’s electricity would be expensive.
They might choose to get electricity from Zimbabwe, which is cheap because Zimbabwe also has a lot of electricity, which they are not using. So they might also opt to buy from us.
Those are some of the scenarios of us exporting, while we still are in a deficit.
Sibanda said that energy wastage is a major challenge, estimating that around 300 megawatts, or 20% of Zimbabwe’s national supply, is lost due to inefficient equipment and careless use.
He emphasized the need for improved efficiency standards and conservation practices to make better use of the limited electricity.
More: Pindula News