Sosten Ziuku, the Principal Research Scientist at the Energy Technology Institute (ETI), Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC), said failure to harness sustainable energy models for industry presented challenges to the effective use of renewable energy technologies.
In an interview with The Zimbabwean on the side-lines of a workshop organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Harare last week, Ziuku said the adoption of renewable energy technologies such as solar thermal boiler hybrids, co-generation and biogas for process heating would boost the country’s local energy reliability, resilience and security.
“We need to implement energy efficient measures across all sectors and this reduction should be met with the adoption of using sustainable renewable energy,” said Ziuku. “Institutional financing is required from banks and pension funds for the establishment of a Green Fund which should assist the country in the implementation of an energy policy.”
Zimbabwe requires 2,200 megawatts (MW) per day to cater for industrial and household use. The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings which is mandated with the generation of electricity, produces an average of about 861MW, with 150MW being exported to Namibia as repayment of a loan to refurbish Hwange Power Station in 2007.
Post published in: News