The Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has just released its annual report covering all associated energy matters for the year 2024. ZERA’s mandate includes:

• Increasing Access & Security of Supply by promoting the procurement, production, transportation, transmission, and distribution of energy in accordance with public demand and recognized international standards. ZERA’s role is to also ensure the maximization of access to energy by consumers that is affordable and environmentally sustainable.
• The regulation of this procurement, production, transportation, transmission, distribution, importation, and export of energy.

ZERA adds that its mandate is also to ensure that prices charged by licensees are fair to consumers in light of the need for prices to be sufficient to allow licensees to finance their activities and obtain reasonable earnings for their efficient operation. ZERA also establishes or approves operating codes for safety, security, reliability, quality standards, and any other sector-related codes and standards for the energy industry or any sector thereof.

Zimbabwe has been going through a tough patch over the past decade or so when it comes to meeting its electricity demand. As cited in ZERA’s 2024 annual report, 2024 was no different, as the electricity supply remained subdued during the year. An average capacity of 1,300 MW was available against a demand of 1,700 MW. The low water levels at the country’s main hydro power plant, Kariba, have contributed to depressed electricity generation along with the erratic performance of aging coal power plants at the Hwange Power Station.

The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) is the body that manages affairs at the Kariba Dam that is shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia.  Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) operates the 1,050 MW hydropower plant at Kariba. However, ZRA instructed the Zimbabwe Power Company to reduce power generation to a maximum of 300 MW for most of the year due to these low water levels. On the Zambian side, there is a 1,080 MW power plant.

The country’s old coal power plants (Hwange units 1 to 6) have been experiencing frequent breakdowns, meaning that they are not able to reach anywhere close to their installed capacity of 920 MW. There is a planned rehabilitation program to increase their performance and lifespan. Two new 300 MW coal-powered generation plants have also been added to the fleet at Hwange.

This new capacity is from recently commissioned units 7 & 8 at Hwange, built at a cost of US$1.5 billion. This has tilted Zimbabwe’s electricity generation mix heavily towards the side of coal. Electricity rationing programs persist despite the addition of the new coal plants at Hwange, hence there is a drive to urgently increase electricity supply. ZERA says, as a regulating entity, their goal is to bring onboard as many independent power producers (IPPs) as possible in the sector to complement the state-owned utility companies’ efforts and ensure these take off and feed into the grid or supply viable offtakers. As part of this drive, ZERA issued 20 electricity licenses in 2024, seventeen being for generation of electricity with a total installed capacity of 786.08 MW and three licenses for retail supply of electricity. Out of the licensed power generation projects, 16 projects are solar photovoltaic power plants while one is a coal-fired thermal power plant. IPPs in Zimbabwe have historically experienced huge hurdles in their quest to reach financial close for their projects. Let’s hope these newly licensed projects get to close their funding ASAP in order to bring online the much needed generation capacity.

Overall, a total of 11,082 GWh was delivered into the transmission system against 10,096 GWh in 2023 (9.7% increase). This includes imports from the SADC region. ZERA’s report shows that the two brand new units at Hwange (7 & 8) power station were the dominant energy supply sources in 2024, contributing 4,918 GWh. Kariba South Power Station decreased its output by 7% due to low water levels. The old plants at Hwange power station increased their output compared to 2023 by 7% due to improved operational efficiencies. The ZERA report also says that imports reduced significantly by 730 GWh as a result of  the commissioning of Hwange 7 & 8, from 1,982 GWh in 2023 to 1,252 GWh in 2024. There appears to be a consistent increase in  energy delivered to the transmission system, as in 2024, the 10,000 GWh mark was exceeded for the third consecutive year since 2022. With new mines being opened up in addition to traditional gold mining, such as for lithium, iron ore, and chrome, along with associated chrome smelters, demand continues to increase, with miners indicating they will need an additional 2,500 MW soon. Therefore, it is critical that stakeholders in the sector ramp up new generation projects to meet this growing demand.

Zimbabwe’s energy mix could see hydro’s contribution increase if water levels on the Kariba Dam improve significantly in the near future. There is also a renewed focus on mini hydro projects, which could also contribute to the mix. As shown in the chart above, the contribution from utility-scale solar remains subdued. However, there is some good news on this front. We are now starting to see more independent power producers reaching financial close for their solar PV projects. We now have some that have commissioned their solar PV plants and are now feeding into the national grid. The latest one is Centragrid’s 25 MW solar power plant in Nyabira, just outside Harare. Centragrid, an independent power producer licensed to own, finance, construct, and operate the 25 MW solar power plant and its associated transmission facilities in Nyabira, Zimbabwe, completed the 25 MWp plant in 2024. There are plans to expand this plant to 100 MW, and several other developers are also looking at solar PV plants ranging from 30 MW to 100 MW. These should help increase the penetration of solar in the country’s energy mix. However, given the dire electricity generation shortfall, a lot more of these solar plants are needed ASAP and these could also alleviate the pressure on the Kariba Dam.

ZERA says its focus for the year 2024 was also on driving initiatives that would enable increased access to energy, particularly in remote areas. ZERA promoted the minigrid model as one initiative that can be adopted at various levels to ensure access to energy across the country. ZERA says presentations were made at mining and agriculture forums, business gatherings as well as public exhibitions to engage different stakeholders on the value of minigrids. ZERA says there is some progress, as a 200 kW minigrid was commissioned in Hakwata, Chipinge District, along with some smaller minigrids that were initiated in various parts of the country by various players. ZERA adds that several minigrids were also developed by Rural Electrification Fund (REF), such as Bemba (60 kW) in Tsholotsho. The REF has also completed two more solar minigrids, which are Chitulipasi Solar Minigrid (120 kW) in Beitbridge and Dete Solar Minigrid (120 kW) in Hurungwe. As the price of solar panels and lithium batteries continues to fall, the unit economics of these rural minigrids start to make more sense for developers. This should help accelerate deployment of these kinds of minigrids across rural areas, increasing access to electricity in these areas.

Featured photo by Courtney Lindeque (CC BY 2.0 license)