Govt implores RDCs to consider alternative energy sources
TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development has implored rural district councils to consider alternative energy sources to reduce demand of power from the national grid.
The call by the Ministry’s permanent secretary Gloria Magombo comes at a time when Zimbabwe is battling crippling power shortages.
This comes as Zimbabwe has vast off grid renewable energy resources including solar.
As a result, the government has crafted the National Renewable Energy Policy, which focuses on the energy needs of Zimbabwe from renewable energy resources.
Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo this week, Magombo said: “To achieve this, designers of structures and property developers should propose projects that allow the generation of power from environmentally friendly sources such as solar, wind and biogas so as to reduce demand for power from the national grid.
Sustainable and efficient use of energy speaks to everything smart because if we talk about a smart city, we are talking about clean energy.”
She said Zimbabwe has a competitive advantage in producing solar energy.
“When it comes to waste management, we want sewer treatment plants that can produce biogas and electricity. A smart city should be able to benefit from it
“s waste hence the need for good waste management. Zimbabwe has a competitive advantage when it comes to producing solar energy because it has the land and there is sunlight throughout the year,” Magombo said.
She said the government was working on providing incentives for private power producers in the form of tax holidays, grants and reduced licensing fees among others.
In line with the devolution and decentralisation agenda, the government is spearheading programmes aimed at capacitating rural communities to participate in the mainstream economy by being part of the productive sector.
Through exploiting locally available resources, rural communities are encouraged to establish industries that utilise locally available raw materials to produce goods and services for the domestic and export markets.
