ZIMBABWE’S energy sector continues to face significant hurdles, undermining progress towards the country’s renewable energy targets, a senior government official has said.
Despite ambitious goals set under the 2019 Renewable Energy Policy, progress has been slow, with only modest additions to the national grid, highlighting structural and investment challenges in scaling up clean energy capacity.
According to the policy, the government aimed to install 1 100 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy by 2025 and 2 100MW by 2030.
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However, Energy and Power Development secretary Gloria Magombo told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Peace and Security that Zimbabwe has so far added just 41,5MW of small hydro power and 101,9MW of solar energy to the grid.
The committee hearing forms part of an ongoing parliamentary investigation into the implementation of the renewable energy policy since its launch in 2019.
Magombo said the policy was introduced to address gaps in the broader 2012 National Energy Policy, particularly in responding to emerging
technologies and climate change concerns.
“When we launched the initial energy policy in 2012, we realised there was a need for a focused framework to deal with renewable energy, especially given the emergence of new technologies and the need to respond to climate change,” she said.
She explained that the policy set clear targets to guide progress.
“By 2025, we aimed to achieve 1 100MW, representing about 16% of the energy mix, with a view to increasing this to 2 100MW by 2030,” Magombo said.
She noted that these targets exclude large hydroelectric power projects, as Zimbabwe already has close to 1 090MW of installed large hydro capacity.
Magombo said the government introduced incentives such as duty exemptions, tax holidays and reduced regulatory costs to attract private
sector investment into renewable energy.
“Out of the 150, we have achieved about 41,5 megawatts in the small hydro space. “We still have other small hydros, which we expect to come in and we will update the committee as we install them going forward.” -newsda
