By Pride Mahlangu, Business Reporter
INDEPENDENT power producer, Power Ventures (Private) Limited, has applied for a licence to establish a 107 megawatts solar energy plant in Hwange District, Matabeleland North province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) confirmed the application in a public notice yesterday. It said the proposed solar plant, if approved, would be established at Chidome Ward in Hwange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has received an application from Power Venture (Private) Limited to construct, own, operate and maintain a 107.771MW Solar Power Plant at Chidome Ward, Hwange Rural District Council in Matabeleland North Province,\u201d said the authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe applicant intends selling the power generated to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project will also include the construction of approximately 75km of 88(132)Kv Double Lynx line from the proposed solar plant to the existing Hwange 33Kv substation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The energy watch dog said the licence application by Power Venture (Private) Limited was done in terms of Section 42 and 46 of the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zera has since invited stakeholders with any concern about the application for the generation licence to lodge written representations with them before 26 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal comes at a time Zimbabwe is facing acute energy supply gaps with low generation capacity at the country\u2019s main power stations in Hwange and Kariba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation has been compounded by drought conditions in the last rainfall season, which has seen water levels at Kariba Power Station drop significantly in the last few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has forced the power utility, Zesa, to implement a tight load shedding schedule that has seen some places going for up to 15 hours without power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In view of this situation, renewable energy is seen as the short term and long term solution with solar being the low hanging fruit for Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Zera, a number of solar projects are being processed while other renewable small scale power projects are at different stages of implementation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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