Property Reporter
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) says Independent Power Producers fed a total 509,26GWh to the national grid in 2016, a 183,86 percent increase from what was fed into the national grid prior year comparative. Responding to emailed questions by The Herald Business, ZERA chief executive Officer Gloria Magombo said electricity generation by Independent Power Producer (IPPs) has been growing steadily over the years but recorded a big jump in 2016 with the coming on board of the Dema power plant which fed 202,9GWh to the national grid in 2016.

According to production information provided by ZERA, IPPs fed 160GWh in 2012, 180GWh in 2013, 173GWh in 2014, 179,4GWh in 2015 and 509,26 in 2016.

Apart from the Dema Emergency Peaking Power plant which uses diesel to generate power, most of the IPPs use biomass technology to produce power with Triangle making the biggest contribution of 180,8GWh in 2016 up from 87,5GWh in 2015.

Its sister company Hippo Valley also contributes a sizeable amount having contributed 53,1GWh in 2016 up from 34GWh in 2015 and 50GWh in 2014.

As at the end of 2016 only the Nyangani Renewable Energy was using mini-hydro technology to feed the national grid. In 2016 the plant contributed 69,83GWh to the national grid up from 51,4GWh.

The major contributors of power have been Triangle, Hippo Valley and Nyangani Renewable Energy (NRE) which have been increasing output over the years.

“The major contributors of power have been Nyangani Renewable Energy (NRE) who have been commissioning a new power station every year since 2012,” said ZERA.

“The commissioning of Dema Emergency Peaking Power also increased production in 2016.”

ZERA also noted that a number of IPPs are likely to start contributing to the national grid in the next 12 months.

“A number of IPPs are at different stages of development. However, Kupinga Power Station was commissioned in December 2016 and officially opened in August 2017 and is already generating about 1,6MW.”

Claremont Mini Hydro is contributing 0,3MW while BeitBridge Solar Plant is generating 1,5MW for own consumption.

ZERA added that in early 2018, Mutoko Solar Plant is likely to add 2,5MW to the grid.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey