A new plan to solve Zimbabwe’s electricity crisis is on and to make this a reality, contractors are being asked to submit tenders to build renewable energy plants in the country. Solar energy is the source of choice to supply 500 megawatts (MW) of electrical energy.
A public notice by the Zimbabwe Electricity and Distribution Company, ZETDC intends to contract 500MW of Private Venture, PV solar plants of varying capacities at different identified strategic locations.
Debt to external electricity suppliers and aging infrastructure at home has led to power cuts across the country also called loading shedding. This could last until 18 hours in a day or more adding to the economic slow down before the coronavirus pandemic halted most commercial activities globally.
Zimbabwe also paid off arrears to South African electricity power supplier Eskom, guaranteeing supplies of up to 400MW daily.
The country is producing 987MW of electricity daily.