The ManicaPost
AS the country trudges towards attaining a middle income economy by 2030, universal access to modern forms of energy is essential for the country’s underdeveloped regions to fully participate in pursuing Vision 2030.
This is why National Development Strategy (NDS1), the country’s economic blueprint which is running from 2021 to 2025, is prioritising the electrification of households, schools, clinics and industries.
Government, through the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, duly launched the National Energy Policy to ensure that all people in Zimbabwe have access to realiable, affordable and environmentally friendly energy services.
All this comes from the understanding that electricity is an enabler for industrial development, social welfare and improved healthcare, and its role is only increasing in importance as the world becomes more modernised.
That said, the preliminary report for the 2022 national housing and population census indicated that Zimbabwe has a population of just over 15 million, with 61.4 percent of them residing in rural areas.
Sadly, the bulk of these rural households have no access to electricity, with the majority using wood for cooking.
It is encouraging to note that efforts are being made to correct this anomaly.
A lot of ground has been covered by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).
True to Government’s commitment which is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 which seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy as a way of delivering economic development and eradicating poverty by 2030; no one and no place is being left behind.
Only last week, the US$650 000 Madzivire-Bangure rural electrification project was commissioned in Buhera by the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development, Honourable Magna Mudyiwa, who was standing in for Minister Zhemu Soda.
The Madzivire-Bangure project, which has seven substations, was financed by the Rural Electrification Fund.
It will benefit 6 324 households and 25 rural public institutions, among them 14 schools, six business centres, three clinics and two agricultural extension offices.
While previously most efforts in improving access to electricity were concentrated in urban areas, the Second Republic has made significant progress with the Rural Electrification Programme.
To date, 9 934 institutions have been lit up countrywide through the programme using both grid and solar technologies.
However, as more and more households and institutions are electrified, we should remember that connection to the grid is just the beginning.
Without a sizeable addition of reliable generation capacity, the lasting and powerful impact on people’s lives made possible by electrification remains a pipedream.
Building new, high-efficiency power plants and modernising ageing plants are two of the main drivers for providing a cleaner, more reliable power supply.
Energy efficiency should therefore be the buzz phrase. In this day and age where efficient and energy-saving equipment is available, there is absolutely no justification for holding on to energy guzzling obsolete manufacturing plants that are also unkind to the environment.
It is renewable energy sources, however, that will likely play the largest role in the future of electrification.
Fortunately for us, Africa offers great potential for solar energy.
In addition to this, most parts of Manicaland are good candidates for wind power and this should see the province leading in the generation of renewable energy.
Biogas is another great energy source whose usage remains marginal despite the abundance of biomass in rural areas.
More biogas plants should therefore be established as they will assist in energy production.
Making the most of these renewable energy options will give Manicaland an upper hand in delivering cheaper energy for the benefit of local communities.
With the several projects that are being implemented across the province under the National Energy Policy, the energy situation can only get better.
