ZERA confiscates substandard LPG cylinders
THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has confiscated 300 smuggled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders from South Africa and Botswana as they do not conform to local set standards.
The gas cylinders which were netted during a pilot blitz in Harare, will soon be destroyed by a private engineering firm.
So overwhelming was the blitz that ZERA had to discontinue as it had run short of storage space.
Speaking during a media stakeholder engagement in Bulawayo on Wednesday, ZERA head of petroleum department engineer, Andrew Guri, said smuggling of cylinders was a major challenge to the gas sector.
He described smuggled cylinders as “orphan cylinders” due to inadequate legal framework on cylinder ownership and control.
“We are having a challenge of smuggling LPG cylinders from South Africa and Botswana. They are finding a market in the country as we are witnessing high usage of gas. We launched a pilot blitz in Harare targeting smuggled cylinders and we managed to confiscate 300 cylinders.
“We ran out of storage space and we had to discontinue the exercises. A private engineering firm has been engaged to destroy the cylinders.
“The aim is to encourage the use of certified branded cylinders which are traceable to a particular company,” he said.
Guri noted that Zimbabwe has broken all records in Southern Africa in terms of gas usage.
“Last year, the country used 66 million kg of gas and this year we project usage to be about 70 million kg” said 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?”
“Whatever the case, the outcome is good that people have migrated or shifted to LP G. LPG is actually known as the modern fuel and the transition to cleaner energies as we move to renewable energies.”
“The country’s LPG consumption has risen from under 1 kg per person per year in 2012 to around 4.5 kg per person today, marking significant progress in cleaner energy adoption.”
He noted that the surge in LPG is reducing demand the on county’s electricity grid.
The increase in LPG usage can be attributed to the resurgent power shortages, which industrialists have warned will negatively weigh in on the productive sector’s potential.
Over and above, 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, and 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 of foreign currency a month to fully service the market.
The government is also currently engaging investors to come on board as independent power producers.-ebsinessweekl
