Bulawayo avails 3 farms for solar projects

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has availed three farms for a solar power generation project and is inviting investors keen to set up plants.

The revelation follows last month's council visit to Malaysia where the local authority engaged potential investors for partnership in the solar energy sector.

Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube told Business Chronicle that the municipality was targeting to generate up to 100 megawatts of solar power. He said the three farms were identified in February and have already been advertised for the project.

"We've got three solar farms that we put up for prospectors in February. And we're inviting developers and investors to take part in the power generation programme. We are inviting investors to come and set up solar generation plantations," he said.

"One of them is big enough to accommodate a plant that can generate up to 50 megawatts, the other one up to 30 megawatts while the last one could be smaller and can generate up to 20 megawatts of electricity."

Mr Dube said the municipality cannot disclose the contents of the deal as it has not found takers yet.

"Depending on how we're going to structure our partnerships as a city we consume a lot of electricity especially in pumping water and sewer. We consume a lot of electricity if we can get cheaper electricity it will be good for the city and the remainder will be diverted to the national grid," said Mr Dube.

The project comes at a time when the council is facing a huge Zesa debt, which saw the power utility disconnecting electricity to one of the municipality's buildings.

On the other hand, the city's solar power project dovetails with the Government's thrust to promote green energy development.

Through the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera), the Government has licensed more than 10 independent power producers to generate clean energy such as gas, solar and hydro-electricity.

This is also in keeping with the global trends on the need to curb pollution and global warming through investment in environmental friendly power projects.