News / National
Econet eyes Bulawayo as renewable energy centre
31 Jan 2019 at 10:28hrs | Views
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Econet Wireless has chosen the City of Bulawayo as the centre of its renewable energy business in Zimbabwe in order to stimulate employment opportunities in the country's second largest city.
In a statement yesterday, Econet Energy chief executive, Norman Moyo said at the direction of the group chairman, Strive Masiyiwa, the company was setting up its energy business in Bulawayo.
"Econet has chosen the City of Bulawayo as the centre of its renewable energy business in Zimbabwe," reads part of the statement.
The Econet Energy business operates in Zimbabwe as Distributed Power Africa (DPA) and primarily focuses on rooftop solar power systems for commercial and industrial customers.
Moyo said since the company launched in Zimbabwe last year, it had already developed hundreds of sites, including base stations for Econet, offices and factories, as well as a few homes.
"Our solution is very high tech. We have solar panels, battery systems and centralised monitoring by computers," he said.
Moyo added that the DPA solar model did not cost the customer in terms of installation, but only for power used.
The renewable energy company has embarked on a nationwide initiative to increase access to clean and renewable energy through the provision of tailor-made solar power solutions using a lease-based model.
To date, DPA has signed up several commercial and industrial clients totalling 2.7MW. These include organisations in the food, beverages and dairy sectors, schools, farms and small business enterprises.
In 2018, DPA announced a $250-million investment plan based on renewable energy solar projects.
In a statement yesterday, Econet Energy chief executive, Norman Moyo said at the direction of the group chairman, Strive Masiyiwa, the company was setting up its energy business in Bulawayo.
"Econet has chosen the City of Bulawayo as the centre of its renewable energy business in Zimbabwe," reads part of the statement.
The Econet Energy business operates in Zimbabwe as Distributed Power Africa (DPA) and primarily focuses on rooftop solar power systems for commercial and industrial customers.
Moyo said since the company launched in Zimbabwe last year, it had already developed hundreds of sites, including base stations for Econet, offices and factories, as well as a few homes.
"Our solution is very high tech. We have solar panels, battery systems and centralised monitoring by computers," he said.
Moyo added that the DPA solar model did not cost the customer in terms of installation, but only for power used.
The renewable energy company has embarked on a nationwide initiative to increase access to clean and renewable energy through the provision of tailor-made solar power solutions using a lease-based model.
To date, DPA has signed up several commercial and industrial clients totalling 2.7MW. These include organisations in the food, beverages and dairy sectors, schools, farms and small business enterprises.
In 2018, DPA announced a $250-million investment plan based on renewable energy solar projects.
Source - newsday
