The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has announced plans to carry out a nationwide audit of household electricity generation as more people turn to solar power.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, ZERA chief executive Edington Mazambani said the audit will measure how much electricity is being produced by domestic solar systems.
He said the information is important for planning purposes, helping the government to understand actual energy access levels and to integrate private solar systems into the national grid. Said Mazambani:
“It is done firstly to determine the electrification rate, secondly, to support national planning and thirdly, to anticipate integration within the grid.
“We are at the procurement stage (for a contractor to undertake the study) for the fieldwork… we need capacity to cover the whole country.
“I think we can have timelines after procurement and have agreed on the implementation schedule.”
According to the 2022 census by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), the country’s official electrification rate is 62 per cent, with about 1.1 million households off the grid.
As a result, many households in both urban and rural areas are turning to solar power.
While the initial move to solar was driven by frequent power cuts, the trend has accelerated due to a drop in prices for solar equipment, such as high-efficiency panels and lithium-ion batteries, and the arrival of affordable, diverse solar products in the market.
A standard 3.2kVA solar system that once cost US$3,000 can now be installed for as little as US$1,000.
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