Zim has vast renewable energy potential: Zhemu

ENERGY minister Soda Zhemu says Zimbabwe has enormous energy resources that are being under-utilised and offer a significant opportunity for investment.

These include renewables like solar, winds, hydro, biomass and other non-renewables such as coal, coal-bed methane and potential oil and gas.

Speaking to delegates at the fourth International Renewable Energy Conference and Expo 2023 held in Victoria Falls last week, Zhemu said these resources need to be exploited to improve access to modern and clean energy.

“Solar potential is 16 to 20 megajoules per square meter per day, which is vastly unexploited and is present in several regions of the country. By end of 2022, Zimbabwe had grid connected installed solar capacity of only 40 megawatts, mainly 24 megawatts from the independent power producers and the balance for own consumption now being connected through the net metering facilities.

“That is well short of the potential of over 100 gigawatts as per the renewable energy policy instruments. Through partnerships with the World Bank, five out of 17 sites have three feasibility studies done with a total capacity of 370 megawatts in preparation for competitive procurement,” he said.

Zhemu said this exposed the 990 megawatts by the independent power producers (IPPs) they are embarking for the government's support implementation agreement, which was announced in December by the Finance ministry.

He said the Energy ministry has already received some requests by the IPPs for implementation agreements and they were processing their submissions.

On hydro power, Zhemu said significant small hydro power potential was present in the Eastern Highlands region and perennial rivers and most inland dams.

“Around 150 megawatts of small hydro, our potential is estimated in this country. These are small projects which we can develop using our own resources if we are able to work together.

“On a larger scale, we have over 5000 megawatts of large hydro potential mainly along with the Zambezi River basin which doubles between Victoria Falls and the Indian Ocean, including sites in Mozambique,” he said.

On biomass potential, the minister said the country has a total potential of 1000 megawatts from biomass in the form of agricultural and municipal waste, forest residue and other forms.

He said forest residue from commercial forest has been estimated at 70 000 tonnes, which has the potential to generate nearly 150 megawatts of power.

Detailed energy resource assessments need to be done to assess potential of biomass as a renewable energy source, he said.

“I'm glad to announce that the ministry through the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has commenced the process of doing this detailed analysis,” he said.

On geothermal, Zhemu said Zimbabwe has geothermal energy potential of around 50 megawatts that has not been harnessed and presents scope for future exploitation. He said detailed energy resource assessments need to be done to assess potential of geothermal energy.

“We are looking for partners to assess this potential. On winds, desktop studies by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) through the Africa Clean Energy Corridor have revealed that the country has significant wind resources at isolated sites. I'm happy to announce that through partnership with the African Development Bank, we have identified potential sites for detailed studies,” he said.

The four-day conference, whose theme is Managing The Future — Clean Energy Possibilities, was attended by top energy experts, financiers, green energy entrepreneurs and investors, among others.

It was organised by The Standard newspaper in collaboration with the Energy and Power Development ministry.

The Standard is under the AMH stable. AMH also publishes NewsDay, Zimbabwe Independent and Southern Eye and owns teleradio platform Heart and Soul.