Victor Maphosa Herald Correspondent

Zimbabwe must have an uninterrupted power supply for economic development, Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi said on Monday while visiting a new solar power station.

Centragrid Private Limited solar power station in Nyabira is already feeding 2.5 megawatts into the national grid and will deliver 10 times as much when complete.

Minister Chasi said his ministry was working hard to ensure that there was constant power supply to all industries.

“We are currently working on an integrated resource plan, which speaks to the variety of power sources that we have in the country, coming into one mix,” he said.

“Energy is at the epicentre of the economy, production and in particular I have my eyes focused on agriculture and mining.

“As a ministry, we must ensure that all industries have constant power supply. There is a close relationship between energy and food security. We are in a farming environment and we need to think of how we can have constant power being fed to the farms.

“We are currently importing food and in the process exporting jobs and also losing a considerable amount of foreign currency that can be used in other areas.”

Minister Chasi commended Centragrid Private Limited for the solar power project and reiterated that those who were holding on to licences for speculative purposes will lose them.

Going forward, he said, Government would want to export power to other countries.

“It is this type of licensing that we would like to see more,” said Minister Chasi. “To those who have taken licences for speculative purposes, we are going to cancel them and give them to people who are innovative, who are loyal to our country and who are determined to ensure that we get out of the challenges in the power area.

“Our vision as Government is to take power as a business. We want to sell it to our neighbours.”

Speaking on the same occasion, founder of Centragrid Private Limited ,Mr Victor Utedzi, thanked the Government for giving the company opportunities in the energy sector.

Mr Utedzi said they were planning to complete the project by October next year.

“Currently, we are feeding 2.5 megawatts into the national grid,” he said. “This is from the first phase of the project. As you can see, we have completed one block and we are aiming to do nine more blocks. So, construction will start in the next two months.”

Mashonaland West Provincial Minister of State Mary Mliswa-Chikoka said there was need for farmers to have constant supply of power for production.