Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor
Zimbabwe is set to conduct preliminary surveys on the potential of wind energy in the next two years, as it seeks to explore initiatives to promote the transition to renewable energy to improve access to clean energy and reduce carbon emissions, a senior Government official has said.

Energy and Power Development Ministry director — energy conservation and renewable energy Dr Sosten Ziuku told The Herald recently that the country needed to harness its wind energy potential to help position renewables as the key to a sustainable future.

“Power generation in Zimbabwe largely relies on hydro and thermal power at both Kariba and Hwange, and for us to have a good energy mix, we need to start looking at wind power generation to diversify our energy generation sources in case of problems and constraints from the main hydro and thermal generation stations,” he said.

“The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) conducted a satellite data analysis for wind power potential in Zimbabwe and we now need to validate satellite data with actual feasibility studies on the ground.

“The Ministry of Energy and Power Development is now looking for funds to conduct actual measurements of wind energy potential in the coming one to two years at sites identified by IRENA before feasibility studies are done.”

Wind water pumping systems were utilised intensely in the 1970s and early 1980s by white commercial farmers before it became a rare sight soon after Independence when the country rapidly rolled out access to electricity in various parts of the country.

Historically, hydro electricity generated at Kariba Power Station has been the longest-standing and largest green energy source for Zimbabwe.

The country has also relied heavily on the Hwange Thermal Power Station for electricity supply before both the hydro and thermal sources faced numerous challenges that led to a decline in power generation.

Despite the rise in fortune of solar and wind energy, the wind energy market in Zimbabwe is still lagging behind and its contribution to the energy mix is almost zero percent.

“Zimbabwe hardly uses wind energy,” said Dr Ziuku.

“We are not using the wind energy resources we have. The country has selected areas with a good potential for wind energy generation, but we still need to do studies on the sites.

“IRENA has produced an initial satellite map of the potential areas which still need to be validated.”

Until now, the meagre amounts of investment in wind energy in Zimbabwe have predominantly been on a tiny scale by NGOs and private individuals.

Some of the areas that were identified in the country with potential for wind energy generation include parts of the Great Dyke in the central part of the country, Eastern Highlands and Matabeleland South.

Through the Zimbabwe Environmental Regional Organisation (ZERO) wind energy programme, more than 100 mechanical windmills have been set up on farms in various parts of the country for water pumping.

The country failed to build the potential for wider application of wind energy technologies from the 1980s when mechanical wind parts could be locally manufactured.

The ZERO programme focused on monitoring wind speeds and installing pilot wind generators. Wind speed data collection were done at four sites in Chivhu, Karoi, Mount Darwin and Rusape.

In the first phase, three 50-watt Marlec 910 wind generators were installed, providing 12 volts of direct current through charge controllers.

This initiative resulted in the production of 1kW and 4kW wind turbines and the installation of four turbines with a combined capacity of 4kW at the Temaruru Business Centre in the town of Rusape, along with two 1kW turbines at the Chikukwa Permaculture Centre in the Chimanimani and the Masampa fishing camp on the shores of Lake Kariba.

All these projects collapsed at the height of economic problems in 2008 when the project stopped running due to limited funding, difficult operating environment and spiralling cost of fuel, turbines and auxiliary equipment.

All this strained the budget during the project’s implementation phase.

“Preliminary studies indicate that we can harness wind energy at elevated levels of between 80 metres and more above the ground,” said Dr Ziuku.

“To tap the wind energy, you then need three blades with a diameter of 30 metre blade spans sitting on a mast some 80 metres high.

“All this requires a massive scale of engineering to support the structure. It requires a very solid engineering structure to anchor the mast and the windmill.”

At the moment, if Zimbabwe needs to develop windmill turbines, it has to import all components as no company is manufacturing the parts locally.

“Our ministry plans to validate the three-tier data obtained via satellite, with ground measurements in the coming one or two years,” said Dr Ziuku.

“When we have finished this exercise, then we can talk about feasibility studies for wind energy power generation and drawing up plans on bankability to attract investors.”

The few wind energy generation that exist in the country are for individuals who have mounted small windmill power generation systems for charging mobile phones and lighting households.

Examples that exist include a household in Temaruru in Rusape, another in Murehwa, where an individual is using windmill power to charge batteries, mobile phones and lighting.

Between 2015 and 2016, a Chinese company conducted wind energy potential studies at a mountain range in Mhondoro.

Results indicated there was a good potential for windmill turbines at an elevated height of 80 metres. Very few studies and prototypes have been made at local universities.

According to a study by ZERO, an NGO, on renewable energy prospects in Zimbabwe, average wind speeds are estimated at 3,5 m/s and there is potential in the exploitation of these slow wind speeds for water pumping.

Areas around Bulawayo and the Eastern Highlands have potential for larger power generation, since the most prevalent wind speeds range from 4 to 6 m/s.

Energy experts say the wind industry in Africa is still small and concentrated, although substantial progress has been made over the last decade.

In August 2017, the total capacity was recorded at 4,1GW and this figure was slightly below the one percent mark of the cumulative global capacity according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

However, it represented an almost 300 percent increase from 1,1GW in 2011.

Africa has fully operational wind farms in Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, providing sustainable energy.

In South Africa, wind energy is already boosting electricity, with five wind farms adding a collective 645,71MW to the national grid.

And in Ethiopia, two of its wind farms account for 324MW of the country’s total electricity output of 4 180MW.

Zesa, the country’s power utility, has imposed the worst rolling blackouts in years, with households and industries going without electricity due to lack of foreign currency, declining water levels at Kariba hydro-power station and obsolete equipment at the Hwange Thermal Power Station.

Many settlements throughout the country are now receiving less than seven hours of electricity per day from the national grid, pushing up demand for firewood and charcoal in both urban and rural areas.

Most families are increasingly relying on firewood and charcoal as prices for imported liquefied petroleum gas continue to rise.

By 2030, Zimbabwe needs to achieve universal access to sustainable energy through the wider promotion of the adoption of renewable sources such as solar panels, wind farms or hydroelectric dams.

This will help to reduce pressure on the main Zesa electricity grid and enable Zimbabwe to make huge savings on energy import costs, achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on energy and contribute towards Vision 2030.