Zimbabwe govt appoints power projects technical committee

GOVERNMENT has appointed a 20-member technical committee to be part of the team responsible for the implementation of power projects in the country.

This comes after Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, announced Government's willingness last December to speed up investments by independent power producers (IPPs) in the energy sector with a special focus on solar projects.

Since then, the Ministry of Energy and Power Development has been convening meetings with the relevant stakeholders to discuss the selection criteria of the qualifying IPPs, the composition of the technical committee, and the terms of reference of the committee.

"The technical committee shall consist of representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development (MoEPD), the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and any other person(s) nominated or recommended by any of the two permanent secretaries," said the ministry in a statement.

Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC)

The committee members include Engineer B Munyaradzi (chief director at MoEPD), Dr S Ziuku (director MoEPD), Mr M Manyundo (MoEPD), Ms S Kavu (MoEPD), Mr F Tinarwo (MoEPD), Mr P Mupiwa (MoEPD), Ms T Gwebu (MoEPD), Mr I Munaki (MoEPD), Mr T Karise (MoEPD), Mr W Zimbiti (MoEPD), Mr K Makacha (MoEPD), Mr M Ndovorwi (ZERA), Mr Madondo (ZERA), Mr L Nechitoro (ZERA), Mrs G Ngoma (ZERA), Eng I Dube (ZETDC), Eng J Diya (ZETDC), Mr K Tapfuma (ZETDC), Eng N A Kajengo (ZETDC) and an RBZ representative.

The Ministry of Energy and Power Development said the selection criteria for the projects to be considered for the Government Guarantee shall be those under construction, projects about to reach financial closure, and projects yet to commence construction.

The IPPs have been directed to submit the required documents for consideration by the technical committee.

These include proof of land ownership such as lease agreement or title deeds, detailed feasibility study that is bankable, a valid power generation license issued by ZERA, valid transmission connection agreement, five years of cash flow projections, proof of the technical capability of the contractor, valid power purchase agreement (PPA), valid ESIA certificate, indicative term sheet, draft agreement from the lenders duly initialled by both parties in the case of guaranteed loans/ proof of funding and any other additional documentation as requested.

Government has said all applicants for a guarantee should be submitted to the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.

"The IPPs should submit two hard copies, one labelled original and the other one being a copy. In addition, the IPPs should submit a soft copy on a memory card/stick to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development," reads the statement.