Energy woes to ease

Zimbabwe consumes about 1 million litres of fuel a day and the ethanol project with 50 000 hectares of sugar cane will produce 350 000 litres of ethanol that is about 35% of the country’s total needs “In the next two years we will be producing 70 percent of the country’s fuel needs and therefore reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels which are expensive to import.

Conversion to a ethanol powered engine is neither expensive nor complex.

“The carburettor type of vehicles can handle 20 percent of ethanol blended fuel while the fuel injected can handle up to 90 percent with modifications.

With smart conversion kits it costs $40 to convert to ethanol.

However, the company in order to meet the deadline has to content with high water bills and logistical problems that are caused by the delays in the transportation of equipment from Brazil.

“In terms of the civil side we are 60 percent complete while with the Ethanol Mill we are 30 percent complete. We are also being charged high water bills of $16.78 per mega litre. The electricity side is better as ZESA is charging fair rates. However we are faced with erratic power supplies and we have agreed with ZESA that we are going to get interpreted power supplies from Munyathi Power Station where we will get electricity for 13 cents per kilo watt we have volunteered to pay the price..

“When we will start after the commissioning of the project in April next year we will produce 18 megawatts of electricity. We will use some of the power at our estates and distribute the remainder to the national grid.

By 2013 when the project is in full throttle it will produce 60 megawatts of power that is enough to provide electricity to Manicaland Province.