A CONSORTIUM of Chinese investors last week launched a $26 million solar power plant in Seke communal areas just outside Harare, which is projected to add 120 megawatts (MW) to the national grid.

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

The project will be known as Harava Solar Park.

Addressing thousands of people at the commissioning of the plant last Friday, Zanu PF parliamentary candidate, Munyaradzi Kashambe said the project would go a long way in empowering the local community through job-creation and improved power supply.

“We are happy to have such an investment in our constituency and this supports the government’s Zimbabwe is open for business mantra. We are also saying Seke is open for business. This is a huge project that saw our Chinese friends injecting $26m into it. A number of youth, mainly from this area, will be employed at the site,” he said.

“The first phase of the project is expected to be complete (at) end of July, while 30MW will be fed to the national grid by December. In the next three years, a 120MW target will be achieved.”

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The project, sited in the Ngome area, is the second power plant in Seke after the controversial $250 million Dema Diesel Plant, which was launched last year by the government amid reports that it was not economically viable.