Zimbabwe is set to develop a 20MW solar power plant at Bwoni village in Seke. Harava Solar co-founder and chief executive, Mr Ainos Ngadya announced the reports and sad his company has US $27.7m towards the project.
The plant will sit on a 20 hectares of land. Harava Solar will undertake both the designing and construction of the solar plant. According Mr Ainos Ngadya, the plant will be be commissioned in December this year.
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Harava Solar project
The plant is projected to start generating electricity from January 2020. It will see the country saving up to US $4m per year when the firm starts feeding the national grid. The project will provide 170 direct jobs when construction reaches its peak. 90% of the workforce being drawn from Seke rural.
The Harava Solar project comes at a time Zimbabwe is reeling from massive power shortages, which have resulted in long hours of load shedding to manage demand. Mr Ngadya announced that the Government has waived duty on solar equipment to promote its use in the country to fight power shortages, noting that the move was a positive improvement that will certainly unleash further investments in the clean energy sector.
Government believes the removal of duty on solar equipment will spur investments in the sector and reduce demand for grid electricity. Some IPPs have previously complained that the current average tariff of US $9,86 per kilowatt hour was not sustainable, hence the challenges in accessing funds to implement power projects.
