Zimbabwe heading towards Stone Age era owing to poor planning

MDC Organising Secretary Abednicho Bhebhe has lamented that Zimbabwe as a country is  walking on thin wire where one mishap will define whether people go to the Stone Age era or be at a level of just barely surviving.

"I say so thinking of a scenario where the entire Hwange power station is engulfed in fire or the Kariba dam having serious structural failures," said Bhebhe.

"Already, we are condemned to long hours in the dark after the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority cut electricity generation by a third to 475 megawatts at Kariba due to low dam water levels."

Bhebhe said it seems there is very little attention given to the possibility of failure of the country's two biggest major power electricity generating plants – Kariba and Hwange power station.

"We are just a foot off the cliff at the moment owing to poor planning. ZESA has also said Hwange and Kariba will undergo maintenance, further condemning us to endless rolling power cuts, while crippling industry that is teetering on the brink," he said.

He said a few years back Ghana had the same issues with power supply.

"They learnt their lesson and invested in alternative systems and generates electric power from hydro power, fossil-fuel (thermal energy) and renewable energy sources," Bhebhe said.

"These are some of the solar interventions to the electricity crisis in Ghana: (a) a 2MW solar plant has been installed in Navrongo, Upper East of Ghana, (b) a 315kW solar plant has also been installed at Noguchi Memorial Research Institute University of Ghana, Accra,  (c)  Licensed Manual for the service providers in the renewable energy industry has been developed, (d) Companies have been granted provisional licenses for wholesale renewable energy electricity generation (d) the European Union has supported the Ghana Energy Commission to prepare a framework for resourcing and operationalisation of the Renewable Energy Fund."

The MDC-T politician said ZESA should take a leaf from Ghana to address the current electricity shortfalls. He said Load shedding has never been a solution to the energy crisis; as the powers that be at ZESA and at the Energy Ministry think.

"In Zimbabwe, we are blessed with sunshine all year round. We should be exporting power from the sun to other locations. It is easy and cheap to install solar systems compared to ZESA charges. A recent survey suggested there was not enough wind to run wind generators but what is there (sun) can still provide some additional power," he said.

"An important requirement for the kind of development that Zimbabwe aspires to achieve is energy. All countries that have developed rapidly have done so on the back of cheap, accessible, consistent and widely available energy to power its industries, support and boost consumption."

The MDC-T organiser said with vast arable lands and unlimited potential for crop production which can be converted into a wide range of liquid and solid biofuels, it remains a potent source that can deliver some of the country's energy needs.

"Without electricity owing to poor planning, the economy will just grind to a halt. According to the World Bank, the delayed construction of the Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric power plant has resulted in economic losses to Zimbabwe and Zmbia of atleast 45 billion. It was conceived in 1972," Bhebhe said through his blog.

"More power cuts mean more water shortages, more company closures, more job losses and many other public health risks."