Chinese companies take lead in developing clean power supply in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has licensed 21 independent power projects, but the majority of them are yet to take off because of the huge capital outlay involved.

A total $10 billion is required for the projects.

So far, most of the proposed developments in the energy sector are in thermal power stations which are strategically located to the northwest of the country where there are abundant coal reserves.

Zimbabwe's biggest thermal power station is also in Hwange with an installed capacity of 920 MW, with smaller ones found in Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati.

Sino-Hydro will in 2016 start expanding the Hwange Thermal Power Station to add another 600 MW to the grid.

Finance and Economic Development told parliamentarians early November that Chinese institutions would soon release $1.1 billion for the expansion of the power station.

But thermal power stations are not only the most expensive to build, they also pollute the environment.

Before any development takes place, investors carry out intensive environmental impact assessments to ensure that they do not adversely affect the ecology of the region which is also home to the country's biggest game reserve-Hwange National Park.

In the case of another thermal project around the area, conservationists have already raised a red flag saying that mining in the Gwayi area would cause environmental concerns.

Gwayi Valley Intensive Conservation Area chairperson Langton Masunda told local media that coal mining would result in the contamination of underground water streams because chemicals such as ammonia, benzene and carbon would be released into the ground as a result of coal-mining activities.

He said Zimbabwe also shared wildlife with Botswana and mining in the Gwayi Valley would push wildlife, including elephants, into the drier neighboring country. Zimbabwe's Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the African continent contributed the least greenhouse gasses, but stood to lose the most because of its vulnerability and limited adaptation capacity. "It is the continent that has the greatest interest in a climate governance framework that is functional and capable of controlling emissions," he said.