– A set amount of money is earned for each megawatt-power of energy that is produced, which is equivalent to one REC certificate.
John Cassim
Harare, Zimbabwe – The International REC Standard Foundation Board in the Netherlands has given Zimbabwe permission to begin issuing green energy certificates, enabling private green energy generators linked to the national grid to begin making money.
Following the submission of a report outlining the nation’s electrification levels both past and present, possible certification programmes, as well as its emphasis on renewable energy policies, the approval was granted.
The Environment Management Agent (EMA), Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Environment Trust of Zimbabwe and the Environment Roundtable carried out the more than a year-long lobbying on behalf of the government.
“What this means is all the producers of clean energy, are now able to connect to the national electricity grid.
And then for every one megawatt power of energy they produce, it’s equivalent to one REC certificate, bringing in a certain amount of money,” Dr Ivan Manyonga, Executive Director of Environment Roundtable explained.
Dr Manyonga added, “At the same time, it is calculated how much carbon have you sequestrated from the atmosphere and an equivalent carbon credit is issued.”
All of these clean energy producers will then be linked to the grid and registered in the International I-REC database in order to obtain clean energy credits.
Green Energy Company (GEC) will continue to issue certificates while the nation develops its own capacity.
The landlocked nation in southern Africa has substantial business potential and vast renewable energy resources that are presently underutilised.
Given the growing number of businesses, institutions, and people in Zimbabwe indicating a desire to go green as a mitigating strategy against climate change, the market for renewable energy has a lot of promise.
Solar, hydro, wind, and biomass—which includes sawmill waste, biogas, and forestry waste—are the main renewable energy sources.
Zimbabwe’s energy supply in 2022 was made up of a combination of hydropower (68.17%), coal, and renewable energy sources (31.83%), according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA).
Achieving a 40% per capita reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below the projected level of “business as usual” is the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target.
This means that clean energy sources must produce approximately 2,400 GWh of energy by 2025 and 4,600 GWh of energy by 2030.
Regulations, institutional support, and a robust policy framework support these aims for renewable energy.
The I-REC Standard Foundation acknowledges Zimbabwe’s achievements in creating and carrying out strategies to increase access to and use of renewable energy sources.
The most recent development encourages private companies to produce green energy in the face of more frequent load shedding brought on by reduced hydropower generation at the thermal facilities in Hwange and Lake Kariba.