Minister implores firms, residents to invest in solar

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO 

The Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Judith Ncube, has implored Bulawayo companies and residents to invest in solar in the face of crippling power cuts.

The call comes at a time when power utility ZESA was forced to cut production at its Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Station to less than 300 megawatts (MW) from a capacity of more than 1 000MW due to dwindling live water levels in the Kariba Dam or power generation.

In an interview with Business Times, Ncube said: “Let’s come up with solutions as Bulawayo companies and residents. Let’s talk to these investors and put solar farms. It’s beyond one person. We all have to come together. Let’s network and look for investors.”

She said President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised concern over rampant vandalism of energy infrastructure at Epping Forest in Nyamandlovu.

“Last week, we visited Epping Forest and what we saw was disheartening. Transformers are vandalised at an alarming rate. President Mnangagwa is worried about the rampant vandalism of energy infrastructure at Epping Forest in Nyamandlovu,” she said.

Crippling power cuts has since forced Bulawayo City Council to disregard its 72-hour water-shedding schedule as most suburbs in the city have gone for more than a week without tap water.

Meanwhile, the informal traders in Bulawayo said the power cuts will collapse SMEs.

“The incessant power outages will surely collapse SMEs or the informal economy who rely on electricity,” the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association executive director, Michael Ndiweni said.

He added: “They are contributing 70% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund. While large companies can resort to fuel-driven generators to power their businesses, many small traders are struggling in a country where inflation is high, eroding incomes and savings.”

Apart from the dire situation at Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Station, ZESA is also battling depressed electricity generation at its thermal power stations at Hwange, Munyati, Bulawayo and Harare.

In the 2023 National Budget, Finance and Economic Development minister, Mthuli Ncube, said that the domestic electricity generation was facing a number of challenges, including obsolete equipment and infrastructure, inability to attract significant private sector investment, and other financing instruments and other structural bottlenecks.