Zim LPG consumption rockets 833%

LIQUIFIED petroleum gas (LPG) consumption rocketed 833% in the past decade as Zimbabwean households, battling frustrating blackouts, turn to alternative energy to power homes, a senior government official told businessdigest this week.

Gloria Magombo, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, said Zimbabwe guzzled 56 million kg of LPG last year, compared to six million kg in 2012.

e rise was mostly driven by robust demand from households, who have been confronted with gripping power blackouts as national power utility Zesa Holdings struggles to match what consumers want.

e State-controlled electricity producer’s multi-billion dollar power facilities have been overwhelmed after prolonged undercapitalisation, placing the country’s growth plans under threat.

So dire is the situation that a presentation made by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) in October titled “Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) Operations Overview”, warned that the “viability and survival” of the Zimbabwe Power Company had been thrown into doubt by factors that include a deteriorating foreign currency crisis in the country.

e paper said key facilities had been buffeted by “numerous forced outages owing to tube leaks and ID fan failures” that have compromised reliability.

But Zesa Holdings chairperson Sydney Gata said rolling blackouts currently affecting the economy would be addressed by this year.

Zesa said out of a combined capacity to generate 2 280 MW, output had plummeted to 1 386MW in October, which translates to about half of this capacity.

“…e country has witnessed an upsurge in the use of LPG particularly in the domestic sector,” Magombo said, speaking exclusively to businessdigest.

“…e annual use of LPG increased from about six million kg in 2012 to around 56 million kg by 2021. …e demand is largely coming from the domestic sector but we expect industry, particularly power generation, to also play a part in the future.

“Gas is a key input in the production of fertiliser. We are targeting over 1 000MW gas to power projects to be rolled out over the next five years or so,” she said.

Magombo said while Zimbabwe's gas fields still had not yet been fully developed, they presented an opportunity for the country to ride out the power shortages.

Official estimates indicate that the country could be sitting on 765 billion cubic metres of measured coal-bed methane gas, which dwarfs the total measured resources in the rest of the Southern African Development Community put together.

e resource was discovered

Lupane area, where a number wells have been drilled. in of the test

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