Hwange has always been the location of Zimbabwe’s second-largest power generating plant but it is old, frequently breaks down and uses coal to generate power which is something frowned upon in these days of climate change. Now the town has a 5MW power station which is owned by Solgas Energy. The plant is now already feeding 5 MW into the national grid. It’s probably not going to stop load-shedding but the national grid needs all the power it can get. Also, the project is still ongoing and it is expected to add a further 5MW to the ZESA grid soon.

The Solgas plant is located at Cross Mabale in Hwange and started feeding 10MW into the grid earlier this week:

The first phase is now complete and connected to the grid. The power plant is adding 5MW of electricity to the nationaal grid. 5MW may seem small as comared to other projects in the region and the world. However, a journely of a thousand miles begins with a single step. S

The project will need about US$8.5 in order to complete the second phase where an additional 5MW will be added to the grid. The first phase of the project which was financed by Old Mutual cost US$7.5 million. Hwange’s thermal station is often a source of load-shedding as it keeps breaking down despite many reports of upgrades the country is yet to feel the benefits. Perhaps the gradual addition of solar projects will mitigate some of the power deficit issues the country is facing.