Old Mutual intends to construct two solar power plants with capacity to generate at least 50 megawatts, in Zimbabwe. The plants will be located in Gwanda and Chipinge, Old Mutual chief investment officer (Alternative investments) Benjamin Sithole said.
He said some solar panels will be laid on the rooftops of its properties countrywide. Old Mutual, a diversified financial services group, has the biggest property portfolio in the country.
Good progress
According to Mr Sithole this project is making very good progress. “We should be signing some of the contracts with technical partners before end of this year.” However, he did not disclose the amount of investment required for the projects.
Making a presentation earlier at the same conference secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and chairperson of the high level committee on climate change Ambassador Bornface Chidyausiku said Zimbabwe should come up with policies to enable establishment of a green loan and bond framework to raise funding for projects with less negative impact on the climate to help meet its climate goals.
Old Mutual recently commissioned a 15MW solar power plant in Chipinge. Its total cost is an average of US $15m. Zimbabwe’s energy and hydro policy has identified solar energy as one the country could use to mitigate greenhouse emissions.
Studies show that Zimbabwe is currently emitting an estimated 26 000 giga grammes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This represents about 0.5% of the world emissions Power generation activities, mostly thermal plants, account for about 48% while agriculture contributes about 44%.
