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Differences over who should undertake a new feasibility study for the Gwanda solar project are delaying the signing of a revised contract between the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and contractors IntraTrek and Chint Electric Company. In July, Cabinet approved a revised implementation plan for the 100MW Gwanda solar PV project, in which the developers agreed to evacuate the first 10MW of the project to the national grid within six months of financial close, and brought in African Transmission Corporation (ATC) as transaction adviser for the project.

Investors, contractors and financiers have been reassessing southern Africa’s potential to emerge as a natural gas producer, supply hub and importer of molecules and electrons for gas-to-power (GTP) schemes. Mozambique’s emergence as an LNG exporter gives it potential to develop new gas-based industry and infrastructure. Developments in southern Mozambique further suggest it could drive a wider regional industry, with more gas exported by pipeline.

Online solar cell leasing platform Sun Exchange has launched its first project outside South Africa, and its first project to use battery storage, at fresh produce exporter Nhimbe Fresh’s farm in Zimbabwe. The $5.3m project will also be the first with a US dollar-pegged, fixed lease price, which Sun Exchange is hoping will help expand its user base internationally. The project is its largest to date and the company raised $4m in a Series A funding round led by a $3m investment from ARCH Emerging Market Partners this year.

Jersey-registered Caledonia Mining Corporation has selected Voltalia to build a 12MW solar plant at the Blanket gold mine near Gwanda. Caledonia said in September that it had raised $13m via a share issue to finance the project.

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has sharply increased electricity tariffs following delays to the regular review system established last year. In 2019, the government agreed that electricity tariffs could be reviewed monthly in line with inflation and exchange rate fluctuations, and adjusted if the formula suggested an increase of more than 10%.

Canada’s Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc announced on 4 September that it had raised $13m via a share issue to finance a solar power plant at its Blanket mine.The proposed 12MWac solar power plant would meet the mine’s minimum demand during daylight hours and approximately 27% of the mine’s total electricity demand.

Three Chinese and two local coal miners based in Hwange are developing coal-fired power plants that aim to add a total of 2,500MW to the grid by 2023. Local coal miner Zambezi Gas and Coal Mine has announced plans for a 750MW power station, while businessman Billy Rautenbach’s Western Coal and Energy Company plans two 300MW plants.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa fired energy and power development minister Fortune Chasi on 14 August after only 15 months in office, accusing him of “conducting government business in a manner incompatible with presidential expectations”.

Cabinet has approved a revised implementation plan for the 100MW Gwanda solar PV project after the developers appointed a new team of experts and secured a bridging loan for the 10MW first phase.In 2015, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) awarded Intratrek Zimbabwe and partner Chint Electric Group of China a contract to develop the $172m solar project despite their lack of financing or technical expertise. The plant failed to materialise, even after Intratrek was advanced $5.6m for preliminary works despite lacking a bank guarantee.

Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has published a general procurement notice for the development of solar PV plants at multiple locations with combined capacity of 500MW. Zimbabwe has been planning a major renewable power procurement for some time as the country looks to end its long-running energy crisis and reduce reliance on imported power and fuel. Solar PV plants will also help Zimbabwe manage its hydropower resources, which have been hard hit by drought.

German renewable energy developer Holt Holding Group has said it plans a 10MWp solar power plant at a site near Harare. The $7m project is expected to be commissioned before the end of 2021, director-general Heinz Luchterhand told African Energy. Holt is in talks with the government and Zesa regarding the implementation of the project, said Luchterhand. “We would expect to operate the plant on the basis of a PPA with Zesa, with power to be fed into the national grid,” he said.

Faced with a tumbling local currency and soaring inflation, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission & Distribution Company (ZETDC) has increased the price of electricity by 19% from 1 March. The increase is the second in six months, following a 200% rise in October 2019. Announcing the increase in late February, ZETDC managing director Ralph Katsande said the new tariffs would ensure the ailing utility could continue to import electricity. He said ZETDC would use a monthly tariff indexation formula, taking account of fundamentals such as the exchange rate and inflation.

Invictus Energy has signed a preliminary agreement for gas supply from its Cabora Bassa project in Muzarabani, as it seeks an upstream partner to establish whether commercial quantities of gas can be produced from the licence. Invictus announced on 19 December it had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IPP developer Tatanga Energy to progress gas supply for a 500MW gas-to-power plant in the event of a commercial gas discovery from its SG 4571 licence.

Beverages manufacturer Schweppes Zimbabwe has commissioned a 1MW solar plant which project installers have described as the largest roof-mounted commercial solar system by an IPP in southern Africa outside South Africa. The solar plant was installed by Distributed Power Africa (DPA), an Econet-owned off-grid company that specialises in the building and installation of solar plants, at a cost of $2m.The system is grid tied with generator integration and will provide energy for the soft drink maker’s production facility, ensuring continuous production in a country plagued by chronic electricity shortages.