By A Correspondent

Zimbabwe’s power supply challenges continue to worsen, prompting the government to scramble for any possible solution to ease the ongoing crisis. In a desperate attempt to alleviate the persistent power shortages, the state-owned power utility, ZESA, is increasingly turning to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to supplement the national grid.

With aging infrastructure, low water levels at the Kariba Dam, and ongoing maintenance issues at the Hwange power station, the government has found itself in a tight spot, scrambling for alternatives. The urgency to bring additional power into the grid has led to a significant push for the operationalisation of more IPPs. These producers, who are now feeding power into the grid, are seen as a critical lifeline in the country’s bid to address the electricity shortage.

“We are now a generating plant, and ZESA also wants power from us,” said Mr. Wilson Mujuru, an engineer at the Turk Mine Solar Plant. He emphasized the plant’s role in alleviating some of the pressure on Zimbabwe’s national grid. The Turk Mine solar plant, one of several new IPPs licensed by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), is expected to add much-needed capacity to the country’s strained energy sector.

The government’s growing desperation is evident in its reliance on smaller-scale, privately operated power plants. These new IPPs, such as the Turk Mine Solar Plant with its 4.5 Megawatt (MW) capacity, are seen as crucial to filling the gap left by the country’s aging and underperforming power plants.

“The IPPs have come in at a critical time,” explained ZERA’s Compliance and Monitoring Officer, Engineer Josiah Ncube. “We’ve been facing challenges with Kariba, particularly with low water levels, and there are ongoing maintenance issues at Hwange. So, the addition of these independent producers is a godsend. A plant like Turk, with 4.5 MW, may seem small, but it can significantly ease the pressure on our main power sources.”

Despite the government’s efforts to push forward with IPPs, the situation remains dire, with regular power outages affecting businesses and households across the country. With the 2030 vision of an upper-middle-income economy fast approaching, the pressure is mounting on ZESA and the government to stabilize power supply, which remains a critical pillar of economic development.

The push for IPPs represents both a desperate measure and a potential long-term solution, with the government hoping that more plants like Turk Mine will help reduce the burden on traditional power sources and provide a steady supply to meet the country’s growing energy needs.