Chivi sets aside 100ha for solar farm

Zim Now Writer

Chivi Rural District Council in Masvingo Province has set aside 100 hectares of land for a solar farm aimed at generating electricity as transitioning to clean sources of energy gathers momentum globally and across Zimbabwe.

Chivi RDC administrator Archibald Ncube said the local authority is pursuing the provision of clean energy in view of anticipated demand for power in the wake of developments at Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

One of the districts that share the giant Tugwi-Mukosi Dam, Chivi expects a boom in investment in sectors such as agriculture and tourism and wants be prepared for the anticipated high demand for power.

Chivi RDC hopes to attract investors with the requisite financial muscle to develop a huge solar plant capable of supplying the district’s needs and feeding the national grid with excess power.

“We have set aside 100ha where we want investors to set up a solar farm so that we produce clean energy to meet the envisaged high demand for electricity once developments at Tugwi-Mukosi Dam pick up. Now, that the master plan has been approved by Cabinet,” said Ncube.

“We are thinking and planning ahead in terms of making sure there is enough electricity in Chivi and we are not just looking at electricity but also solar power which is environment friendly. We hope that soon, we would find investors who are prepared to work with us in that regard,” he said.

Ncube also said the RDC was considering a floating solar power plant on Tugwi-Mukosi Dam saying advances in solar technology made such a development exciting.

Chivi RDC has already lined up a number of projects that are likely to be interesting for Tugwi-Mukosi investors.

Besides land for a solar farm, Chivi RDC has already developed 500 residential stands that are ready for takers as the local authority intensifies efforts to cash in on the anticipated boom in investment in and around Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam, at the confluence of Tugwi and Mukosi rivers and was completed in 2015 at a cost of US$250 million, divides Masvingo and Chivi districts and unprecedented investments in agriculture, tourism and fishing are anticipated in the two areas.