Harare, (New Ziana) -The Zimbabwe Government has started implementing the National Energy Efficiency Policy which was launched in April this year, a senior official said on Thursday.
Director for conservation and renewable energy in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Dr Sosten Zivuku said this on the sidelines of a validation workshop in Harare, while commenting on the progress of the initiative.
He said the country was now seized with implementing the policy, which was officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in April this year with the goal of reducing energy consumption across all sectors of the economy.
Dr Zivuku said the objectives of the Energy Efficiency Policy are to reduce consumption of electricity and petroleum fuels in the residential, mining, manufacturing, and other sectors while maintaining the same levels of output.
“We want to reduce the amount of energy used per unit of production, without compromising performance,” he said.
The policy also aims to introduce as well as enforce standards and codes for energy efficient appliances and industrial equipment, promoting the widespread use of technologies that lower energy intensity.
Dr Zivuku acknowledged that Zimbabwe had not performed well in energy efficiency historically, largely due to underperformance in industry.
“Zimbabwe was the first in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region to implement a ban on incandescent light bulbs through a Statutory Instrument, and we have since seen a nationwide transition to LED lighting. Now other countries are replicating that model,” he said.
Since the policy launch, the Ministry has rolled out several projects, including an energy efficiency program targeting public buildings.
Supported by the African Development Bank, the initiative has already conducted energy audits at 20 facilities including hospitals, schools, hotels and municipal buildings.
“The idea is to identify energy-saving opportunities and develop a comprehensive public sector efficiency program. This will eventually be expanded to cover private buildings, industry, mining, and manufacturing,” said Dr Zivuku.
“These are just some of the first steps. Many more programs are in the pipeline to support sustainable energy use across Zimbabwe’s economy,” he added.
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