Zimbabwe Energy Situation

Zimbabwe
Flag of Zimbabwe	Location of Zimbabwe
Capital	Harare
Official language(s)	Chewa, Chibarwe, English Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani Shona, Sign language Sotho, Tonga, Tswana Venda, Xhosa
Government	Presidential System
President	Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Total area	390,757 km2
Population	12 973 808 (2012 Estimate)
Rural population	7756587.12 (2010)
GDP (nominal)	US$ 10.978 billion (2013 Estimate)
GDP Per capita	US$ 589 (2013 Estimate)
Currency	Various
Time zone	Central Africa Time (UTC+2)
Electricity generation	7.8084 billion kilowatthours (2010)
Access to Electricity	National: 41.5% Urban: 80% Rural: 19%
Wind energy (installed capacity)	MW(Year)
Solar Energy (installed capacity)	MW (Year)

Overview

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It shares its borders with Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique to the east, South Africa in the south and Botswana in the southwest. The capital city is Harare. Much of Zimbabwe is elevated in the high veld/central plateau that stretches from the southwest to the northwest at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,600 meters. The world’s largest curtain of falling water the Victoria Falls is located in the northwest of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe relies on hydroelectric power. In rural parts of the country, 80-90% of the people depend on wood fuel and kerosene for cooking lighting. Food processing tasks like milling grain are usually carried out with diesel-powered system.

Total electricity generation in 2009 was 7,900 gigawatt hours (Gwh). 53% of this was produced from renewable sources. Electricity consumption per capita in 2009 stood at 1,022-kilowatt hours (kWh). 33.9% of this total installed capacity was from hydroelectric plants.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available at: http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=ZI#elec

Energy Production
2005	2007	2008	2009	2010
5,801.0 GWh Total hydropower electricity generation	4,541.0 GWh Total hydropower electricity generation	4,263.0 GWh Total hydropower electricity generation	4,202.0 GWh Total hydropower electricity generation	4,202.0 GWh Total hydropower electricity generation

Energy Sources

Much of Zimbabwe's electricity is produced at the Kariba Dam Hydroelectric Power Station (about 750 MW), at Hwange Thermal Power Station which has an installed capacity of 920 MW, and at three minor coal fired stations.

Apart from the Kariba Dam Hydroelectric Power Station, there is still quite a lot of hydropower potential especially along the Zambezi River. Solar Power has enormous potential both in small and large scale. Wind and biogas energy are other possibilities.

Source: Adapted from Reegle. Energy Profile of Zimbabwe. Available at: http://www.reegle.info/countries/zimbabwe-energy-profile/ZW

Hydropower

Zimbabwe has a hydropower potential of 18,500 GWh a year, of which 17,500 GWh is technically feasible. To date about 19% of the technically feasible potential has already been exploited.
Rusitu Hydro, a mini hydro plant of 750kW operated privately sells power to the state-owned company, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority Holdings (ZESA). The government is also planning to add a further 5 MW of small-hydro. About 8 small-hydro plants are currently installed, ranging from 3 kW to over 700 kW. The total potential of small-hydro in Zimbabwe is estimated at 120 MW. Gairezi, which is located in the Nyanga district is particularly promising, with an estimate 30 MW of potential capacity.

Solar Energy

The average solar insulation in Zimbabwe is 5.7 kWh/m2/day. There is an enormous potential for use of solar PV and solar water heaters that has not yet been exploited. Technically, solar PV has a potential of 300 MW. At present only 1% of the technical potential for solar water heaters has been exploited. Solar power is mostly installed in rural areas of Zimbabwe at service centers such as schools, clinics, police stations and hospitals. However, the private home market for solar is growing. Solar-powered ‘base stations’ for charging electrical appliances have also been installed through the national telecommunications company NetOne.

Wind Energy

The average wind speed in Zimbabwe is estimated to be 3.5 m/s. A non-governmental organization called ZERO conducted a number of feasibility studies and also financed the production of 1 and 4 kW wind turbines for off-grid use and for providing power to municipal buildings.
In the areas of Bulawayo and the Eastern Highlands, there is potential for power generation from wind turbines because these regions have the most prevalent wind speeds ranging from 4 to 6 m/s.

Geothermal Energy

In 1985 the geothermal potential was acknowledged as being 50 MW. Currently not much else is known about the potential of geothermal. Due to Zimbabwes’s proximity to the Rift Valley region, it is reasonable to assume that geothermal power generation can be applied.

Policy Framework, Laws and Regulations

Important Laws and Regulations

The legislation that governs the electricity supply industry in Zimbabwe is the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19) and Rural Electrification Fund Act (Chapter 13:20) of 2002. The Electricity Act created ZERC and provided the legal framework for the unbundling of the state-owned utility, ZESA.

Renewable Energy Policies in Zimbabwe
National Energy Policy (2012)	Policy support and strategic planning for multiple RE sources. The objectives of the Energy Policy are: to ensure accelerated economic development to facilitate rural development to promote small-medium scale enterprises to ensure environmentally friendly energy development, and to ensure efficient utilisation of energy resources.
Energy Regulatory Act (2011)	The ZERA (Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority) board issues and withdraws licences from all players in the Electricity, Petroleum and Renewable Energy Sectors. It is also responsible for creating a legal framework for fair competition of both private and public players.
National Electricity Act (2002)	The Electricity Act provided for the establishment of the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission(ZERC). ZERC was responsible for licencing operators in the electricity sector, setting of electricity tariff as well as general regulation of the electricity sector to allow for fair competition in the electricity industry. Since the establishment of ZERA in January 2012, all the duties have been transferrred to ZERA and ZERC dissolved.
Rural Electrification Act (2002)	The Act allowed for the establishment of the Rural Electrification Fund Board responsible for holding and distribution of Rural Electrification Funds for all rural electrification projects countrywide. Allows for the expansion of the national electricity grid to rural government institutions, business centres and chief's homesteads on 100% subsidy and 60% subsidy on other connections. Also provides for decentralised electrication using renewable energy.

The Ministry of Energy and Power Development is still developing a Renewable Energy Policy. This is being addressed through a number of initiatives.

The Electricity Regulatory Bill, currently awaiting Presidential signature, specifically provides for “the identification and promotion of the employment and development of sources of renewable energy”.

Specific Strategies

(Biomass, Renewable Energies, Rural Electrification, Energy Access Strategy, Poverty Reduction Strategy etc.)

Institutional Set-up in the Energy Sector

Government

The Ministry of Energy and Power Development (www.energy.gov.zw) has overall responsibility for energy issues in Zimbabwe. The terms of reference include policy formulation, performance monitoring and regulation of the energy sector as well as research, development and promotion of new and renewable sources of energy. The Ministry supervises and oversees the performance of the energy parastatals, ZESA Holdings and NOCZIM.
The Rural Electrification Fund Act (13:20) created a Rural Electrification Agency (REA,www.rea.co.zw) that has the mandate for the total electrification of all rural areas, funded by electrification levies and government stipends. The main functions of the agency are the planning of projects, the raising and accounting of rural electrification funds, and the monitoring of project implementation.

The Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC) carries out research and development in renewable energy and energy conservation. The Forestry Commission is active in the area of woody biomass as their mandate covers all state forests, which are a major source of fuel wood. The University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Chinhoyi University of Technology run programs in renewable energy. The Harare Polytechnic has done some trials on Jatropha Curcas and biodiesel.

Local and Rural District Councils under the Ministry of Local Government provide area-based planning at the levels of districts and provinces.

Energy Regulator

The Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission (ZERC, www.zerc.co.zw) is a statutory body established under the Electricity Act, (Chapter 13:19) No. 4 of 2002, as amended by the Electricity Amendment Act No. 3 of 2003. It became operational in August 2003.
The Petroleum Act, passed in 2006, provided for the establishment of the Petroleum Regulatory Authority (PRA), to licence and regulate the petroleum industry, to promote the development of efficient procurement, sales and distribution of petroleum products, and to safeguard the interests of consumers of petroleum products. The PRA also has an advisory role to the Minister. The PRA is still to be established.

Electricity Market

The sector is primarily controlled by the state-owned company, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority Holdings (ZESA Holdings, www.zesa.co.zw), which, through its subsidiaries Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), generate, import and distribute all electrical energy in the country.

Liquid fuels market
The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM, www.noczim.co.zw) is the state-owned oil company responsible for procurement, storage and bulk distribution of petroleum products to oil marketing companies.