STAFF WRITER
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has commissioned a solar plant which
will result in the bourse saving US$42,000 annually in electricity
costs.
The solar plant, which has generation capacity of up to 40KVA, was
commissioned by the bourse’s board chairman Caroline Sandura Monday.
ZSE chief executive officer Justin Bgoni said the solar project was
designed to move towards a “cleaner, affordable and reliable source of
power given the need to keep trading servers continuously up”.
“The ZSE has had to heavily rely on diesel powered generators as a
fallback when electricity is unavailable, a costly and environmentally
unfriendly strategy,” Bgoni said, adding.
“The ZSE looks forward to annual cost savings of around US$42,000 from
the switch to solar energy and the payback period is within 3 years.”
Power cuts have hit corporates as they are forced to turn to diesel
powered generators increasing the costs of doing business. The power
cuts have seen companies turning to solar.
In July, Caledonia Mining Corporation said it would sell shares on the
NYSE to raise US$13m to fund the solar project at Blanket Mine as it
moves to beat the power outages which affect production.
In March, financial services group, Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited said
it would construct a US$2.5m solar plant at its head office with a
capacity to generate 650kWh. The plant will be running in October.
Last year, miners accused power utility, ZESA, of disregarding an
agreement with the sector to ensure uninterrupted power supplies, a
situation which has cost the resources industry millions of dollars in
potential lost output. A survey conducted by the Chamber of Mines of
Zimbabwe last year showed that mining houses were getting a raw deal
from ZESA despite paying for electricity in advance and in foreign
currency.
