Renewable energy holds key to powering smart cities
ZIMBABWE is focused on widening investments in renewable energy to support the development of smart cities as it works to attain an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Energy and Power Development permanent secretary, Dr Gloria Magombo, who participated at the Financing Smart Cities and Rural Connect Conference in Bulawayo last Tuesday, has encouraged businesses and local authorities to embrace renewable energy.
To achieve this, she stressed the need to start from designers of structures and property developers who should propose projects that allow the generation of power from environmentally friendly sources such as solar, wind and biogas so as to reduce demand for power from the national grid.
“Sustainable and efficient use of energy speaks to everything smart because if we talk about a smart city, we are talking about clean energy,” said Dr Magombo.
She said when local authorities work on development plans, there is a need to consider the type of energy to be used by either industries or residents.
Dr Magombo also said smart city designs should allow the processing of waste to produce biogas and other fuels.
Biogas = Image taken from Shutterstock
“When it comes to waste management, we want sewer treatment plants that can produce biogas and electricity. A smart city should be able to benefit from its waste hence the need for good waste management,” she said.
Dr Magombo called on the private sector to partner Government in improving power generation.
She said Zimbabwe has a competitive advantage when it comes to producing solar energy because it has the land and there is sunlight throughout the year.
Government has already come up with incentives for private power producers in the form of tax holidays, grants and reduced licensing fees among others.
Solar panels
Dr Magomba said Zimbabwe was targeting 2 100 megawatts of renewable energy by 2030 hence the need for all stakeholders to play their part.
She appealed to financial institutions, which include banks, to avail funding to private power producers.
“The Government has already pumped in about US$2 billion at Hwange in the past 10 years and we are calling upon local private players to complement these Government efforts,” she said.
DEAT Capital, a trade and investment consulting firm organised this year’s second edition of the Smart Cities Conference, which brought together land developers, financiers, councils and Government departments. —chronicle.cozw
