Government To Disconnect Households From National Grid

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that the government was working on a blueprint that will see households being disconnected from the national grid to stabilize power supply in the country.

Writing in his weekly column in a state owned newspaper, President Mnangagwa said that households would be migrated to solar energy as the government steps ups efforts to promote renewable energy.

“We have a blueprint which targets households to run on solar, so we remove them from the national grid. In government, we are already incorporating solar systems in packages which public servants enjoy. Such employer-assisted interventions, across the sectors, will see us speedily migrating more households to solar,”he said.

Zimbabwe’s energy supplies have been significantly curtailed after Kariba South Power Station, the country’s main hydropower plant, cut generation by half due to receding water levels.

Several households have already installed solar systems as the power situation in the country continues to get worse and the President called for the private sector to partner with the government to step up investments in renewable energy to stabilise power supply in Zimbabwe.

“The government and the private sector must now begin a conversation on what, together, we need to do to step up investments in renewables. We have enough sunshine, we have enough land for solar farms. We must now move together, in concert, so we step up investments in energy. We now all know and appreciate the costs that come with power shortages,’’he added.

Zimbabwe plans to the tackle the energy shortages gripping the country through power imports and the Hwange power station Unit 3 which is expected to add 300MW to the national grid upon commission.