Property giant Old Mutual commissions US$2,5 million solar plant
INTEGRATED financial services group, Old Mutual Zimbabwe, yesterday commissioned its US$2,5 million solar plant at its head office in Harare with capacity to generate 641 kilowatts.
The plant, which was officially commissioned by Energy and Power Development Minister, Soda Zhemu, started in March 2020 with a groundbreaking ceremony.
Samuel Matsekete, the group’s chief executive, said the project took longer than expected due to logistical hurdles and supply chain disruptions attributed to the covid-19 pandemic.
“As a business with a vast property portfolio, the migration to a cleaner, renewable and cheaper source of power for our properties was too strong a conviction to ignore.
“The Mutual Gardens solar is the first of many that we envisage for our property portfolio,” he said in a speech at the commissioning event.
Matsekete said the amount of power being generated is adequate to cover the electricity needs of the entire office complex.
“We are also towards the tail end of engagements with the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) over a net metering arrangement that will enable us to feed surplus power generated into the national grid,” he said.
He noted that the company is alive to calls by government to financial industry players for consented efforts towards mobilisation of more resources towards national energy infrastructure.
“We also appreciate the enabling role being played by the regulator, Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), in creating an enabling environment for independent power producers and through such policy frameworks and support, we were able to play our role through the delivery of the mutual gardens solar project,” Matsekete said.
He said the group’s tenants who reside in the various properties owned by the policy holders that the firm manages, have not been spared from the rising costs of utilities such as electricity and day to day running cost of generators.
“This places a challenge on their viability as they must contend with an ever growing cost structure and ever changing marketplace dynamics.
“We are, however, confident that with the envisaged transition to solar power that is cheaper and reliable, we will help them attain long term operational efficiencies,” Matsekete said.
Rutendo Magorimbo, the managing director, Old Mutual Life Assurance Company (OMLAC), said over the past years, the complex has not been spared by load shedding, understandably due to deficiencies within the national power generation capacity.
“As such, we have had to rely on alternative sources of power such as generators. This arrangement has its own vices which include high running costs associated with day to day maintenance of generators, high diesel consumption and carbon emissions.
“All these factors compounded became a major pain point for both Old Mutual Zimbabwe and other companies housed at Old Mutual gardens,” she said.
Minister Zhemu said the energy cluster has been identified as one of the areas in which private players can unlock a lot of potential through independent power production arrangements.
“We have seen several investors venturing into solar power generation plants and exporting the power into the national grid. I believe that though this is commendable, more can still be done in terms of having more producers joining the fray as well as enhancing production capacity,” he said.
He noted that as the country moves towards Vision 2030, Zimbabwe should be able to become self-sufficient in energy production and consumptionand do away with power imports-eBusiness Weekly
