Zim eyes expansion in off grid solar projects
ZIMBABWE is intensifying off grid power generation as it seeks to expand production and ease pressure on the already overstretched national grid, an official has revealed.
There are also calls for Government to enforce regulations that all new housing units are fitted with solar panels and water heating systems off grid to avoid mounting pressure on the already overstretched national power grid.
In light of huge demand, largely driven by rapid urbanisation and increased activity in sectors such as mining, off grid solar solutions would see more citizens having access to power, Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda said, while at the same time, putting the country on track to meet its climate change goals.
The off grid solar systems will see more people, especially those far from the national grid getting access to power, but substantial investments were needed to mitigate “some viability gaps”, arising from high tariff rates, Minister Soda said.
Already, a pilot project in Tsholotsho in the Matabeleland North Province, is set to be launched. It will light up several households and public institutions such as schools and clinics. After the launch, there would be “an acceleration” in the deployment of similar projects across the country especially in the countryside by the Rural Electrification Agency.
New electrification model
“This is the model that we are taking apart from the usual provisional of electricity through the extension of the grid,” Minister Soda said. “Deployment of the standalone systems will ease pressure on the grid and help meet our climate change targets. “We are going to work through development partners or to see if we could mobilise green funding to mitigate viability issues,” Soda added.
Minister Soda said substantial investments especially in energy storage such as batteries and accumulators were needed to “mitigate viability issues” in relation to price of power.
In the face of extreme weather conditions, investments towards transition to healthier energy investments should be prioritised with off grid renewable solutions seen as “most viable solution” to the unfolding widespread climate catastrophe.
Nearly 800 million people globally live without access to any electricity with three-quarters of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The consumption deficit is staggering: the average Nigerian consumes less than a third of the electricity used every year by a moderately efficient American refrigerator, according to the study.
Research has shown that the number of people in the region with access to electricity has grown dramatically over the past decade, but about 600 million remain without power.
Per capita consumption of energy in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) is 180 kWh, compared to 13,000 kWh per capita in the United States and 6,500 kWh in Europe.
And to meet a United Nations goal of universal access by 2030, further progress is needed not only in grid link-ups but in off-grid systems using sources such as solar energy.
According to a recent report by a global natural resources consultant Wood Mackenzie, expansion power generation across sub-Saharan Africa would require US$350 billion of new investments, with off-grid generation accounting for a fifth of the total.
Zimbabwe is targeting to produce 2 000 megawatts from the renewable sources by 2030, a position the country also presented to the COP26 in Gasglow, United Kingdom, which is in line with its pledge to reduce greenhouse emissions by 2030.
Over the past few years, considerable investments in solar energy have been made in Zimbabwe, largely driven by recurring power outages. The removal of import duties on solar-energy-related products including batteries and cables by the government resulted in the acceleration on investments standalone solar home systems.
Delays by the State-owned power utility ZESA to connect new customers on the national grid also resulted in more people resorting to independent solar system.
Off-grid residential demand is being served by standalone solar home systems. As of 2020, there were an estimated 370 million private solar home-system consumers and 250 000 private mini-grid consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa, Wood Mackenzie said.
Its analysis shows that Sub-Saharan Africa’s standalone solar segment has raised more than US$2,3 billion of corporate-level investment since 2010, while the mini-grid sector has attracted US$800 million. If a universal electricity access scenario is achieved in Africa, both could account for over half of new connections. “Off-grid electricity service provision – initially for residential customers beyond the grid through the pay-as-you-go business model – is becoming an enabling mechanism for a host of other goods and services that customers are willing to pay for, most of which require basic electricity service,” according to the Wood Mackenzie study.
It says solar panels have declined in cost by more than 90 percent over the past decade and a similar trend is evident in the battery storage landscape. These cheap, modular forms of power offer significant value compared with incumbent systems.
For commercial and industrial users, diesel generators have been hybridised with solar and batteries or displaced entirely, improving reliability and price certainty, reducing costs and significantly decarbonising operations. “This has created a compelling value proposition in many markets, taking these customers mostly or completely off the grid if they weren’t already,” said Wood Mackenzie study.