Energy company Grid Africa has reached an agreement with a group of miners in Zimbabwe to build 200 megawatts (MW) of solar power for their operations, costing around US$180 million.
This deal comes as miners struggle to find reliable energy sources for their operations. ZESA Holdings, the country’s power utility, has been unable to meet the growing energy demand, and power blackouts have caused mining companies to lose an estimated US$500 million in revenue.
In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent during the Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit in Victoria Falls this week, Grid Africa CEO Norman Moyo shared details of the agreement. Said Moyo:
Today, in Zimbabwe, we are focusing on developing 200MW for the mines.
The mines need 200MW worth of power, and we have now concluded a deal to supply that power to the mines.
A 200MW (project) requires anything up to US$180 million. That is the level of investment you need to put in.
We have got a number of strategic partners — our banking partners who are coming through. We have equity investors and development agencies coming through to support us in developing these mines.
We have already commenced. You will start to see, over the next three years, all that 200MW (project) beginning to come online.
However, we do it in (phases). For us, we are very happy to do a 20MW mine and we move on to the next mine.
Those are smaller projects, quick (and) easy to execute, but they add up very quickly. So that is how we are going to be rolling out that.
We are not going to build one big plant. We don’t think it is the most efficient (way to do it).
At the summit, Grid Africa signed a major deal with Africa GreenCo Group to generate 100MW of electricity for mines in Zimbabwe.
According to the agreement, Grid Africa will produce the power, and Africa GreenCo Group will manage its delivery to the mines.
Lion Mashiri, director of Africa GreenCo Zimbabwe, stated that the 100MW project will cost about US$70 million. Said Mashiri:
This project will be on land in the Midlands Province around Kwekwe. It will be done at the farm surrounding ZIMASCO.
Zimbabwe needs between 1,800MW and 2,200MW of electricity, depending on the season. However, as of Friday, November 22, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) reported that power generation was much lower, with Hwange producing 1,084MW, Kariba 124.5MW, and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) contributing 50MW, totalling 1,258.5MW.
The government has set ambitious electricity goals for 2030, aiming to generate 2,100MW from renewable sources by that year.
As part of its Renewable Energy Policy, the country also plans to achieve 1,100MW by 2025, reducing reliance on traditional hydroelectric power, which has been impacted by irregular rainfall and climate change.
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