The share of renewable energy that achieved lower costs than the most competitive fossil fuel option doubled in 2020, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows. 162 GW (62%) of total renewable power generation added last year had lower costs than the cheapest new fossil fuel option.
Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020 shows that costs for renewable technologies continued to fall significantly year-on-year. Concentrating solar power (CSP) fell by 16%, onshore wind by 13%, offshore wind by 9% and solar PV by 7%. With costs at low levels, renewables increasingly undercut existing coal’s operational costs too. Low-cost renewables give developed and developing countries a strong business case to power past coal in pursuit of a net zero economy. Just 2020’s new renewable project additions will save emerging economies up to US$156-billion over their lifespan.

Read the report here

“Today, renewables are the cheapest source of power,” said IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera. “Renewables present countries tied to coal with an economically attractive phase-out agenda that ensures they meet growing energy demand, while saving costs, adding jobs, boosting growth and meeting climate ambition. I am encouraged that more and more countries opt to power their economies with renewables and follow IRENA’s pathway to reach net zero emissions by 2050.”

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​“Zimbabwe is open for business” was the phrase of choice following the coup d’état of 2018 that led President Mnangagwa to power. There was anti-corruption rhetoric, hopes for transparent governance that would lead to economic recovery in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s recent history begins with colonialism, an excitement in post-independence era, some economic success and then what commentators have described as an “unravelling of a nation” and the rise of military control. This new government though, signalled a willingness to change and adopt measures to promote transparency and accountability.

Zimbabwe has enormous potential for electricity generation from a range of renewable sources such as hydro, solar and biomass. However, at present only a fraction of the energy potential in these areas has been exploited. We are going to explore Zimbabwe’s power needs, potential and the regulatory environment to demonstrate that the phrase “Zimbabwe is open for business” does not need to be mere political rhetoric but that in the power sector – there are vast opportunities for investment and that the time to exploit them is now.

What are Zimbabwe’s power needs?

Currently, there are consistent power shortages in Zimbabwe, it was measured in February 2016 that the Utility (ZESA) produces 845 MW while the projected national demand is 2,200 MW and the installed capacity was approximately 1,940 MW. There are two major sources of power in the country, being Kariba hydropower plant and the Hwange thermal power station. The former’s ability to produce significant output is hampered by low water levels and the latter suffers from constant breakdowns from a lack of investment in the infrastructure. The country, therefore, imports power from South Africa, Mozambique, and the DRC. Such imports are understood to cost the country at least $19.5 million every month to import 150 MW and 400 MW from Mozambique and South Africa, respectively. Zimbabwe’s population is also growing rapidly (from 7.4 million in 1980 to approximately 14.6 million in 2019), there is therefore an increased demand for energy but there has been no corresponding growth in energy generation.

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During the several assessments and gap analyses carried out over a period of time, it was found that the gap between demand and output was increasing, for example from 25% in 2009 to 38% in 2016, coupled with a high demand increase of 1,400 MW in 2009 to 1,950 MW in the year 2015, followed by a very low increase in supply from 1,050 MW in the year 2009 to around 1,200 MW in the year 2015.

Zimbabwe is , therefore, in what commentators have described as an “electricity crisis” manifesting in up to 18 hours a day of load shedding.

Renewable Energy Potential in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has enormous renewable energy potential. In terms of solar energy potential 16 to 20 MJ/m2/day is unexploited. According to reports, the country has potential for 1,000 MW from biomass in the form of bagasse, agricultural and municipal waste, forest residue and others. There is also geothermal potential and wind potential, that while this is not significant, it can be used for other processes such as water pumping. The current energy mix is unsustainable, with hydropower at 70% and coal power at 29%, according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority. However, there still remains potential of an estimated 120 MW of small hydropower potential untapped. In addition, the country recently discovered reserves of natural gas, which is less polluting than coal, but no sustained efforts have been made yet to exploit these other energies.

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Cape Town is one of 30 cities that have signed an equity pledge that will commit cities across the globe to being a part of inclusive climate change action.

Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille, flew to San Fransisco in America to sign this agreement, taking the pledge to commit local government to ensuring that climate action is used to reduce poverty, boost economic growth, improve living conditions and achieve more development.

“Today, I visited Epping where a Cape Town-based company, SustainPower, is manufacturing containerised generators that convert biogas and landfill gas into electricity for heating or cooling,” De Lille said on Thursday. “The company’s CEO, Tobias Hobbach, was a participant in the City’s funded masterclass and pre-incubation workshop series in 2017. The City supports the South Africa Renewable Energy Business Incubator (Sarebi) to run these programmes in order to encourage local entrepreneurs to innovate and create jobs in the industry.”

SustainPower was in a very early conceptualization stage of their business when the City provided support through Sarebi, which assists businesses with operational support. These include accounting services, human resources, industrial relation, payroll management, tax and VAT filing, as well as IT support.

“It is encouraging to see that within a year SustainPower is manufacturing their 500Kw BioGas CHP generators from their facility in Cape Town. The company has become the only local manufacturer of gas-to-power gensets in the country. This is a first for the South African economy and the energy sector,” the mayor added. “Even more encouraging was to see how the renewable energy company has innovatively partnered with a Cape Town-based company, Unique Group, that in the past provided saturation dive support vessels to the fossil fuel industry but are now using their skills to produce infrastructure for clean energy.

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“Experts call us the Mecca of renewable energy,” said Mac Jack, the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism.
“The national minister of energy, Jeff Radebe, also referred to the Northern Cape as the solar kingdom of the world. Indeed, this province is home to sustainable private investment in renewable energy.”

The province hosts 51 of the country’s 102 independent power producers, with more than 19 projects already connected to the grid with a capacity of over 900 MW.
The Northern Cape aims to become a net exporter of green energy by 2020, and achieve an overall energy saving percentage of 24% by 2030.
The province will host this year’s Renewable Energy Conference in De Aar tomorrow (23/08) and on Friday (24/08) and Exhibition with the theme “Driving economic growth and transformation in the Northern Cape through renewable energy.’The Renewable Energy Conference will be held on the tomorrow.

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EEP is proud to present the latest EEP M&E results by mid-2017 which show that EEP Programme continues on the right track with great performance.
The published EEP S&EA semi-annual M&E Programme report 2017 highlights positive progress in terms of reaching rural and urban beneficiaries with almost 800,000 households benefitting from improved energy access through EEP.

Some of the greatest results were achieved in reduction of CO2 emissions where the end of Programme target has been substantially exceeded. So far a reduction of 473,000 tonnes of CO2 has been achieved against the final target of 113,000 tonnes. The three best performers in CO2 reductions of the monitored projects during the first half of the year 2017 were Green Bio Energy in Uganda, GCS Tanzania and Sollatek Kenya.

Similarly, the amount of energy generated, 234,000 MWh/year by June 2017, has clearly exceeded the target of 81,000 MWh/year.

During the six-month period from January to June 2017 29 completed projects were monitored and evaluated, and their contribution has been included into the cumulative Programme results. With 132 projects monitored and 62 still in implementation, EEP has by June 2017 already exceeded 16 of the 22 end-of-the-programme targets of December 2017.

See more results in the EEP semi-annual M&E Programme report 2017, which includes an updated overview of the EEP portfolio. In 2017, EEP continued to interact as an active regional partner engaged in different RE/EE initiatives and provide technical support to project developers.  In the M&E report you can also find highlights of EEP activities in Business Development Support, Knowledge Management and Research.