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Fungai Lupande, Mashonaland Central Bureau

Zimbabwe has achieved significant energy savings of more than 100 Megawatts by implementing the regulations on banning incandescent bulbs.

The nation has promoted use of energy-efficient light emitting diode (LED) lights, although far more could be done to boost efficiencies and so slash load shedding

This amount of savings is equivalent to half of the country’s electricity imports.

The peak energy demand in Zimbabwe stands at 1,865 megawatts against a supply of 1,650 megawatts in normal times but little more than 1 300MW at present with Zambezi River flows so low.

The research and energy efficiency engineer for the Zimbabwe Energy Regulation Authority (ZERA) Victor Sibanda said 20 percent of the supply is wasted through inefficiencies.

Speaking at a training workshop for minimum energy performance standards in Mutare, Eng Sibanda reported that the switch to LED lights cuts power consumption for lighting by 85 percent.

As a result, the country now has lighting power requirements of almost 6,3MW for every 100 000 households with an average of seven 9W LED lights, compared to the previous 56MW for the same number of connections on incandescent.

This reduction in demand amounts to 6 percent of the national energy demand, thanks to the implementation of minimum energy performance standards on lighting products.

ZERA had achieved over 93 compliance rates and conducted over 15 000 inspections since 2018, removing over 18 megawatts of inefficient lighting products from the market.

ZERA now aims to achieve sustainable development goal 7 of ensuring universal access to modern energy services by 2030 with energy efficiency playing a key role. This success in energy efficiency with lighting could be extended to cooling appliances, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

“The objective is to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix,” he said. “Over 18 megawatts of inefficient lighting products have been removed from the market, and currently, the country has four companies that are manufacturing EE lighting products locally,” he said.

To support these efforts, ZERA had invested over US$600,000 in training 230 certified energy managers, 50 certified energy auditors, and 18 certified measurement and verification professionals.

Additionally, ZERA was working on establishing an energy efficiency fund to drive innovation and reward initiatives.

Legislation, including energy management regulations, minimum energy performance standards for domestic appliances, and the national energy efficiency policy, had been put in place to promote energy efficiency.