By Archford Chirimudombo
MARONDERA– De Green Rhino Energy, is committed to playing its part in helping address the country’s power shortages as the company is expediting the construction of a 150Mw his solar plant at Rufaro Farm in Marondera.
The project will begin with a first phase that will have an output generation of 50MW while 100MW will complete the second phase of the project.
Project director Francis Gogwe recently told Chaminuka that final touch-ups are being put on the massive project’s implementation.
“Increasing renewable energy capacity is paramount as this helps to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and we reiterate our commitment to meet timelines during the construction phase of this project. We are grateful to the Government of Zimbabwe for allocating us the 300 hectares of land where we are going to construct the solar plant.
“We will start the Marondera Solar Project by constructing a 50MW in the first phase and in the second phase of the project, we will work on an additional 100MW. The solar plant that will be constructed and commissioned will be connected to the national grid and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution (ZETDC) will be the off-taker,”.
The company’s decision to have this plant in Marondera was based on the random irradiation tests that were conducted and the suitability of the land terrain which is required to be flat or slightly sloppy. Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development as well as the Ministry of Energy and Power Development have been in support of the project.
Gogwe applauded the support they are getting from the Government saying on their part, they will meet the corporate governance standards spelt out in the Government Project Support Agreement (GPSA). The project will benefit the local community by creating jobs directly and downstream, infrastructural development, and a constant supply of electricity.
“Once the construction of the plant is completed, there will be no more load shedding in Marondera, meaning the industry will be operating without power outages. In the end, more employment opportunities will be created as companies increase capacity utilization.
“Infrastructural sectors primarily focusing on power generation are key drivers of Zimbabwe’s projected economic growth targets and as De Green Rhino Energy, we are ready to play our part towards the attainment of Vision 2030 which is championed by President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa.”
In recent years, Zimbabwe has been struggling with severe power shortages and the Marondera Solar project will bring relief to electricity consumers – both domestic and industrial.
The country is investing actively in long-term solutions to meet its 2,000MW energy requirement by next year, with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development highlighting that the Government is working on several new power projects to help address the demand.
New Ziana
