Category: Energy
Meikles Hotel’s 5-star bucket bath & the uncomfortable convo about the ZESA power monopoly
I have been saying “this is the strangest thing I have ever seen” too often here lately. Every time I say it I think, “Well, this can’t be topped” but Zimbabwe has a way of bringing up something new to better what has come before. I am sure we have all seen the circular from […]
ZESA is now certified to fix faults with drones. It’s not a silver bullet, more of an efficiency thing
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is now legally able to incorporate drones in its infrastructure management. This announcement was made at an event the national power company held to mark its acquisition of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator’s Certificate (ROC). What is an ROC and why does ZESA need it to fly drones? An […]
TECHNIKARI: ZESA’s strength is TRANSMISSION infrastructure, not power generation with DPA CEO Norman Moyo
On this episode of Technikari, I was joined by Norman Moyo the CEO of the Econet Group subsidiary that Strive Masiyiwa said would be bigger than Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Econet Wireless – Distributed Power Africa (DPA). We discussed the state of power generation in Africa with a particular focus on the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply […]
Cassava’s solar subsidiary DPA & France’s EDF extend energy partnership in SA
Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, and Électricité de France (EDF), a world-leading electricity company, have entered into a partnership to develop hybrid energy solutions for businesses in South Africa. Through a 50% shareholding in DPA operations in South Africa, EDF will fuel the development of distributed energy solutions, starting with a […]
Electricity is now pegged at 10.6 US cents per unit
ZETDC has announced a new electricity tariff adjustment where a unit of electricity of 1KWhr will now be pegged at 10.63 US cents with effect from today Sunday 15 May 2022. This will be what the tariff will be pegged against the RTGS at the official rate of the day. The statement reads: The Zimbabwe […]
Telco at ZITF 2022: solar equipment, internet packages & mobile computer lab
Renewable energy and internet connectivity were what defined Telco at ZITF 2022. The company, which is one of the oldest internet service providers, brought all it has to offer to this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. The team that Telco sent to ZITF 2022 was kind enough to give us a tour […]
New fuel prices: It’s either ZUPCO, electric cars or we go on foot
I am not going to lie, I seriously contemplated cutting off a few friends who live beyond city limits when I saw the new fuel prices. Two price increases in the space in less than a week is ridiculous. But such is the interconnected world we live in and the pressures that come from events […]
ZESA’s token platform is going to be down TONIGHT, buy your units early
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has in a statement said that its token purchase platform is going under maintenance this evening. This latest fix up follows what has almost become a tradition at the turn of the year when ZESA does some work on its token purchase platform. If you are running out of […]
Bye-bye ZESA, partial to fully off-grid solar prices in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has a large role to play in the economy because without electricity a number of things that we use can’t function especially in the digital age. Over the last couple of decades, ZESA has fallen short of the power demand, so much so that Zimbabweans have adopted alternative energy […]
Fastjet flight forced to return to Hre after Byo airport had no ZESA?
This is the most “Zimbabwe” thing I have heard in some time, according to a report by New Zimbabwe, Fastjet Flight FN 8441 was unable to land at Joshua Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo due to the facility not having ZESA. Apparently, there was no backup generator for the aircraft to make a safe landing […]
Sun Exchange’s US$1.4 mil crowdfunded solar project in Marondera goes live!
Sun Exchange, the global solar leasing platform that enables anyone, anywhere to own and earn income from solar assets in emerging markets, today announced the 510 kWp + 1MWh solar-plus-storage installation to power Zimbabwean agriculture leader, Nhimbe Fresh, has started generating electricity. Sun Exchange previously completed the crowdsale for the project, with approximately $1.4 million […]
UN approves Zimbabwe’s US$45 mil renewable energy programme
The United Nations (UN) SDG-Fund has approved Zimbabwe’s US$45 Million programme on catalysing investments in Renewable Energy (RE) for the acceleration of the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. The UN SDG-Fund is contributing US$10 Million to the programme whilst the Government of Zimbabwe through the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe […]
ZESA resumes rehabilitation work at Kariba Power Station
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has, in a statement, said that it has resumed work at the Kariba South Hydro Power Station after suspending work to reduce load shedding over the festive season. ZESA statement reads as follows: RESUMPTION OF KARIBA SOUTH HYDROPOWER STATION DAM WALL REHABILITATION WORKS ZESA Holdings would like to advise […]
ZESA’s token purchase platform is going to be down tomorrow till the new year
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has, in a press release, said that prepaid token purchases are going to be down from the 31st of December 2021 to January 1st 2022. ZESA’s statement reads as follows: NOTICE ON UNAVAILABILITY OF THE PREPAID ELECTRICITY VENDING SYSTEM DUE TO SCHEDULED ANNUAL MAINTENANCE ZESA Holdings would like to […]
ZESA brings back 3 units at Kariba, power output up by 345MW for the festive season
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Company (ZESA) has announced that it has brought three units at the Kariba Power Station that were offline back into service. The units were down because of maintenance that was being undertaken on the dam wall. ZESA also says that this measure was to ease load shedding during the festive period. […]
Cassava Technologies’ solar subsidiary to power Africa Data Centres’ SA facilities
Africa Data Centres has appointed Distributed Power Technologies (formerly Distributed Power Africa DPA) to provide renewable solar energy and storage solutions for its data centres across South Africa. The partnership will begin with the deployment of renewable energy generation facilities to meet the more than 10 MW power requirements at Africa Data Centres’ Cape Town […]
ZESA gets a US$110 mil loan to improve tariff collection
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, was the beneficiary of a US$110.4 million loan from Afreximbank. The loan which was the largest part of a total allocation of US$188,600,000 to three other local companies (CABS, CBZ and ZB Bank) was confirmed at the Intra-African Trade Fair that happened […]
Electricity supply stabilising says Ministry of Energy
Last week the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) said that there was a major technical fault at the Hwange Power Station that was set to cause load shedding nationwide. In a follow up to that announcement the Ministry of Energy has released a statement saying that Units at Hwange are coming back online and the […]
ZESA has a technical fault Hwange but they aren’t the only power utility facing challenges
The Zimbabwe Electricity Power Supply Authority (ZESA) has announced that there is yet another fault at the Hwange Power Station that will be causing load shedding in the country. ZESA statement reads as follows ZESA HOLDINGS (PVT) LTD POWER SUPPLY UPDATE ZESA Holdings would like to advise its valued customers countrywide that there is limited […]
[Pics] Old Mutual’s US$2.5 million, 0.64MW solar plant
Old Mutual yesterday launched a 0.64MW Solar plant for its Business Park in Harare. The official opening of the plant was attended by Old Mutual’s higherups and Minister for Energy Soda Zhemu. The facility is quite impressive and produces more electricity than Old Mutual will ever need. The excess will be shifted to the national […]
ZPC Q3 power column: Kariba accounting for 64% of the nation’s electricity
The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has released the Q3 2021 power column which denotes in some detail electricity generation in the country’s major plants. The ZPC Q3 2021 report reads as follows: ZPC noted general improvement in generation in the 3rd quarter of 2021, after having sent out a total of 2,203GWh, thereby surpassing its […]
The rainy season is upon us: here are the precautions ZESA wants you to take
It’s the time of year again when the skies open up and I am sure we are all thankful because the heat was getting unbearable. However, as we all know the prevailing weather doesn’t mix well with electricity, so ZESA has put out a circular on the precautions you need to take. The statement is […]
Govt is negotiating new electricity import deals, expect another tariff hike
Minister for Energy and Power Development Zhemu Soda has said that they are negotiating electricity import deals with Mozambique and Zambia that could amount to an additional 280MW. Zimbabwe’s power generation capacity has been brought into question year on year. It seems like there is always an issue at Hwange that results in nationwide load-shedding. […]
Govt signs agreement for an electricity audit
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development ministry has signed an agreement with Sustainable Climate Action Trust (SCAT) for the proposed implementation of an electricity or energy audit. What is an energy audit So an electricity or energy audit is essentially an analysis of the possibilities of reducing the energy consumption by electrical appliances. If […]
Crowd-based solar startup Sun Exchange secures US$2.5 million
Sun Exchange, a crowd-based global solar leasing platform, today announced it has secured $2.5 million in convertible note financing from ARPF, a Mauritian private equity fund advised by London-based ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited (ARCH). This follows the company’s closing a $4 million Series A funding round in 2020, led by a $3 million investment […]
46% of Zimbabwean electricity users have solar as main source
We continue with the findings in the 2020 ICT Access by Households and Use by Individuals Survey by ZIMSTAT. The survey found that 68.9% of Zimbabweans have access to electricity, up from 60.1% in 2014. 68.9% seems too high, doesn’t it? After all, the reports we have seen over the years all claim that only […]
Local startup pitches drone use to ZESA and Rwanda Energy
Drones or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have really come to the fore worldwide with their versatility and numerous use cases that have increased efficiency in a number of industries. Locally, Tawanda Chihambakwe has been at the front lines of this effort. For anyone who might not know who he is, Tawanda is a licenced drone […]
ZESA’s power import solution is not sustainable
Early this week ZESA again sparked outrage when they announced that they were introducing 12-hour load-shedding with immediate effect. The reason we got from them is the one we have been given so many times before we now know it by heart. ZESA’s subsidiary ZPC is generating so little power it’s not enough to meet […]
“Bring back Chibabest”, Angry Zimbabweans react to ZESA’s 12-hour load-shedding schedule
Zimbabwe is one of those countries in which the citizens seem to be living in a twisted horror version of Groundhog Day. The same mundane problems keep happening over and over again and it seems our lives are on repeat. One of those repetitive nightmares is load-shedding and despite the winning and excuses ZESA and […]
ZESA 12-hour load shedding timetable
Below is the timetable for the 12-hour load shedding that ZESA is undertaking due to reduced output at both the Kariba and Hwange Power Stations. Harare load shedding time table DAY MORNING PEAK EVENING PEAK MONDAY First areas to be affected H2, H4, H5, H6, H7, H8, H10, H14 H15, H16, H18, H21, H23, H24, […]