The government has developed a draft plan which will guide the sequencing of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) amid revelations that less than half of the licensed players were operating. BY TARISAI MANDIZHA
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority IPPs indaba in Harare yesterday, Energy and Power Development secretary Partson Mbiriri said eight of 22 licensed IPPs were operational.
“Licensing of power projects is currently based on unsolicited bids. However, the government has now developed a draft system development plan (SDP) which will in future guide the sequencing of projects and is expected to be approved by end of 2015,” Mbiriri said in a speech read on his behalf by a senior ministry official.
He said the ministry would not be giving out licences until the IPPs proved they had the capacity to undertake the power generation project.
The move to rein in IPPs came at a time when the country was grappling with massive load-shedding as demand has outstripped supply.
The power utility has rolled out massive load-shedding in light of the increased demand necessitated by the winter wheat cropping season.
Mbiriri said the government was in the process of crafting the Renewable Feed in Tariff (REFiT) framework, IPP policy, National Integrated Energy Resource, Renewable Energy Policy, among others, to improve the power supply situation in the country and enhance security of supply of electricity.
“A Renewable Feed in Tariff (REFiT) framework has been developed and is still under consideration by the government. The government is developing an IPP policy that will help to establish market-oriented measures and regulatory instruments for private players’ participation in the electricity industry,” he said.
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“The Government is also developing a National Integrated Energy Resource Plan (NIERP) which will provide long-term, cost-effective resource plan for meeting energy demand, which is consistent with reliable energy (electricity and petroleum) supply and environmental, social and economic policies.
The government is also developing a Renewable Energy Policy that will also contribute to power generation using clean sources of energy.”
He said the Renewable Energy Policy would be developed to come up with associated strategy and action plans that would help establish market-oriented measures and regulatory instruments for the renewable energy sector in Zimbabwe.
He said currently the country had suppressed demand for power due to the subdued economic environment. The capacity utilisation in industry sits at 36% and when performance of the economy improves a lot of power would be required to power industry.
He added that IPPs were the solution to the power supply problems and it was government’s desire to see IPP projects coming up to complement power supplies from Zimbabwe Power Company.
The country is currently producing 1 203 megawatts (MW) against demand of 2 200MW due to obsolete machinery and limited investment in the energy sector.
Mbiriri said the government was in the processes of crafting the Renewable Feed in Tariff framework among others.
