Zambia is set to construct 107MW solar power plant in Hwange District. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) announced the reports and said it will be established at Chidome Ward in Hwange.
“The 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. The applicant intends selling the power generated to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC),” said the authority.
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Solar energy plant
The project features construction of approximately 75km of 88(132)Kv Double Lynx line from the proposed solar plant to the existing Hwange 33Kv substation. The licence application by Power Venture (Private) Limited was done in terms of Section 42 and 46 of the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19).
The Hwange project will be a significant milestone in the rehabilitation of the infrastructure critical to increasing Zimbabwe’s economic output, representing one of the largest foreign investments in the country in recent years. The proposal comes at a time when the country is facing acute energy supply gaps with low generation capacity at the country’s main power stations in Hwange and Kariba. The situation was 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. This led to the power utility, Zesa, to implement a tight load shedding schedule that has seen some places going for up to 15 hours without power.
The project will create around 400 direct local jobs which were provided and it will amount to 1 000 by the end of this year.
