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Sunway City and GPC Energy plan to construct a 100 megawatt (MW) direct current (DC) solar plant with 90MW alternating current (AC) generation capacity at Ventersburg Estate in Harare.

According to a joint notice by the companies, the proposed initiative is anticipated to provide the essential energy resources while also generating employment opportunities for Zimbabweans.

Both companies intend to maximise the involvement of local and regional stakeholders in the procurement and construction processes of the plant.

This would be achieved by sourcing materials and labour from surrounding communities to the greatest extent possible.

In a notice, the compnies indicated that the electricity produced would be sold to State power utility ZESA Holdings.

The investment will augment the limited national production, which has been worsened by reduced output at Kariba Power Station due to low water levels following intermittent droughts in the last few years.

Kariba is Zimbabwe’s second largest power station after Hwange in terms of installed capacity.

Acute shortage of electricity in the country is currently being managed through power cuts that often disrupt commercial and household activities.

Last year, the Government completed the construction of the 600MW Hwange Power Station expansion to shore up the country’s power generation capacity.

This however remains inadequate to cover national demand and several State and private sector sponsored projects are on the cards to increase output.

In line with provisions of the Environmental Management Act (Chapter 20:27), Sunway City and GPC Energy have commissioned Pluperfect Environmental Consultancy (PEC) to undertake an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the solar park project.

The project site is geographically bounded by Zimre Park suburb to the north, Epworth Township to the south, Ruwa town to the east, and Msasa industrial area to the west.

Another investor, Tongaat Hulett, seeks to establish a 11,5MW of reliable solar power generation to reduce reliance on the national grid across its operations.

The company hopes to accomplish this through a third party build, operate and maintain and transfer financing model at their sugar operations.

“The company invites tenders from bona fide companies that have proven capability in the establishment of solar power plants,”  Tongaat Hulett said.

Tongaat Hulett’s requirements include grid-tied projects at the Triangle sugar mill (5MW) and Hippo Valley sugar mill (5MW), Mwenezana Estate (1,5 MW) and a hybrid project that is both grid-tied and islanded from the national grid.

According to a statement released by the company, prospective bidders are obliged to ensure that their tenders provide complete and competitive proposals for each intended project or combinations.

The plans by the solar developers demonstrate private sector commitment to complement the national utility and the drive for clean energy that local companies have adopted.

In 2022, Puma Energy Zimbabwe announced that it had 203 solar power generation systems operational across its network and set a target of installing 200 solar facilities across its global network by the end of the year.

Puma Energy said once operational, the solar projects would have a combined capacity of 6,6MW at peak generation.

Schweppes Zimbabwe commissioned a 500kW ground-mounted solar power plant three years ago, embracing the use of renewable energy to boost production at its Beitbridge juice plant.

Recently, gold miner Caledonia reduced double costs on ZESA bills and diesel consumed during load shedding with the installation of a 12,2 MW solar plant at its Blanket Mine in Matabeleland South in November 2022.

Since November 2022, the solar plant has been providing power to Blanket mine and at that time provided approximately a quarter of Blanket’s average daily electricity demand.

Zimbabwe’s largest mobile operator, Econet Wireless, commissioned a multi-million dollar 466 kW solar power plant at its Willowvale industrial complex as it made moves towards adopting clean and sustainable energy in 2019.