Zimbabwe plans 41MW solar panel generator kit

     Zimbabwe's private energy company TDEnergy announced plans to invest $80 million to build a 40.8 megawatt utility-scale solar panel generator kit project in Norton Township.

    The owner of TDEnergy is GideonGono, former head of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has now obtained approval from the National Environmental Management Agency, the Inland Revenue Department and the Water Authority for the solar panel generator kit project. The company hopes to start construction for solar panel generator kit next year, with an estimated construction period of 56 weeks for this solar panel generator kit.

     The Zimbabwe Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has licensed the complete solar panel kits project to connect to the grid and will purchase the electricity it generates. TDEnergy plans to invest $80 million for complete solar panel kits and has received funding from a foreign partner who asked not to be named.

    In 2013, Zimbabwe stated that it plans to develop renewable energy and introduce a feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy, but there is no following, so it is not clear whether there has been FIT. Since Zimbabwe’s complete solar panel kits development is very slow, it will be interesting to see when this new complete solar panel kits project will actually start.