Zera blitz nets 300 smuggled LPG cylinders

THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) has seized 300 smuggled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders from South Africa and Botswana for failure to conform to set local standards.

The gas cylinders that were confiscated during a pilot blitz in Harare will soon be destroyed by a private engineering firm.
Speaking during a media stakeholder engagement in Bulawayo yesterday, Zera's head of petroleum, Engineer Andrew Guri, said the smuggling of cylinders is a major challenge to the gas sector.

He described smuggled cylinders as "orphan cylinders" due to an inadequate legal framework on cylinder ownership and control.

"We are having a challenge with the smuggling of LPG cylinders from South Africa and Botswana. They are finding a market in the country as we are witnessing high usage of gas," said Eng Guri.

"We launched a pilot blitz in Harare targeting smuggled cylinders and managed to confiscate 300 cylinders. We ran out of storage space and had to discontinue the exercise. A private engineering firm has been engaged to destroy the cylinders."

Eng Guri said they aim to encourage the use of certified branded cylinders that are traceable to a particular company. He noted that Zimbabwe has broken a record in Southern Africa in terms of gas usage.

"Last year, the country used 66 million kilogrammes of gas and this year we project usage to be about 70 million kilogrammes," said Eng Guri.

"There's no other country where people have become so comfortable with LPG than Zimbabwe. In Zambia, they are always coming to us, asking, ‘What have you done in Zimbabwe to make people so comfortable with LPG'."

Eng Guri said LPG is known as the modern fuel and the transition to cleaner energies.

"The country's LPG consumption has risen from under 1kg per person per year in 2012 to around 4,5kg per person today, marking significant progress in cleaner energy adoption," he said.

He said the surge in LPG is reducing demand on the country's electricity grid. The increase in LPG usage can be attributed to the resurgent power shortages, which industrialists have warned will negatively weigh on the productive sector's potential.

Added to that, the success of the LPG initiative is an indication that the Government and stakeholders are making progress in mitigating the effects of environmental degradation while offering affordable alternative energy to Zimbabweans.

In 2022, LPG consumption stood at 59,89 million kg, representing a 5,47 percent rise from 56,78 million kg in 2021. The 2022 LPG consumption was the highest over the past eight years, but experts, however, say the country should promote local production of green fuel to cut its import bill.

LPG importers require at least US$3 million in foreign currency a month to fully service the market. The Government is also engaging investors to come on board as independent power producers.