THE government’s recent directive giving large-scale electricity users two years to build their own captive power plants is both pragmatic and revealing.
It is a clear acknowledgment that Zimbabwe’s power crisis has reached a point where the State can no longer guarantee reliable electricity supply to its biggest consumers.
For years, businesses and households have been battered by erratic power cuts, sometimes lasting up to 18 hours a day.
The recent “system failure” at Hwange Unit 6, which had only returned to service in May after scheduled maintenance, is the latest reminder of how fragile the country’s energy infrastructure has become.
Captive power plants — private electricity-generating facilities built by companies to meet their own energy needs — can help industries maintain operations and protect jobs.
They are a practical solution for firms that can afford them.
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However, this move also highlights the widening cracks in Zimbabwe’s energy policy and the government’s failure to invest consistently in generation, transmission and maintenance over the years.
While captive generation offers short-term stability for large corporations, it risks deepening inequality within the business sector.
Only well-capitalised firms will be able to build their own plants.
Small and medium enterprises — already weighed down by high costs, currency instability and limited access to credit — will be left at the mercy of the failing grid.
The result could be a two-tier economy: one powered by captive energy and another trapped in darkness.
The growth of independent power producers (IPPs) provides some hope, but progress remains uneven.
As of July 2025, Zimbabwe had 68 operational IPPs with a combined output of about 427 megawatts — a modest contribution compared to national demand.
Out of 174 licensed IPPs, many remain inactive due to financing challenges, uncompetitive tariffs and the government’s insistence on payments in the touted “currency of choice” — the ZiG.
Unless these barriers are addressed, the country will struggle to attract serious private investment in energy generation.
Investors need certainty — in policy, pricing and payment.
The government’s energy roadmap must, therefore, include a fair and transparent tariff structure, hard-currency payment guarantees for electricity fed into the grid and incentives for renewable energy projects.
Encouragingly, initiatives like the nearly completed Odzani Falls Power Station in Penhalonga show what is possible when the private sector is empowered.
The 910-kilowatt small hydro project, set to power about 400 homes, demonstrates that local, renewable, small-scale generation can meaningfully contribute to easing Zimbabwe’s electricity deficit.
More such projects — especially solar and hydro — could significantly boost supply if backed by the right policy environment.
Ultimately, the government’s captive power directive is a stopgap measure, not a solution.
It reflects a shift from collective national energy planning toward self-reliance by necessity.
While it may keep some industries running, it does not address the systemic issues that have left Zimbabwe in the dark for decades.
What the country needs is not just more megawatts, but a modern, transparent and diversified energy policy that restores confidence among investors, businesses and consumers alike.
Captive power plants might keep the lights on in a few factories, but they will not light up a nation.