One of the biggest solar power projects in Zimbabwe's Guruve & Mbire districts with 10 MW capacity is getting ready to grid connect initial 2 MW in May 2022 under phase I which will ensure Mbire experiences no load shedding through the day from 6.30 am to 7.30 pm, reported local media.
Licensed by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), the solar project is being realized by solar power company New Sahara Ventures that expects it to incur an investment worth $4.75 million, as per The Herald news portal.
Along with providing tax incentives, the government is also facilitating project completion by offering time relaxation to the investors to start paying their taxes after the project is connected to the grid.
New Sahara Ventures is building the Guruve Solar Park project. The latter plans to use profits from the facility to build more community projects powered by solar energy as solar-powered boreholes, health centers and agricultural projects.
Initiated in 2018, the project would have been online earlier had it not been for the transformers being damaged while coming from South Africa. The new transformers are expected to arrive the site by the end of April 2022, and phase I can come online by the end of next month.
As per its website, New Sahara Ventures has a pipeline of over 300 MW across the South African Development Community (SADC) region.
According to the Renewable Capacity Statistics 2022 of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Zimbabwe had a total renewable energy capacity of 1.21 GW at the end of 2021 with solar PV's share at around 30 MW.