Energy in Zimbabwe is a serious problem for the country. Extensive use of firewood leads to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

and the electricity production capacity is too low for the current level of consumption. Zimbabwe has one hydropower plant and four coal-fired generators that produce a total combined capacity of 2,240 megawatts (MW). Only 79.9% of the population have access to electricity.

Greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

from Zimbabwe’s energy sector come from combustion of carbon-based fuels as well as fugitive emissions during

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

processes. As part of Zimbabwe’s national climate change response policy, the country vowed to promote energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and develop low-carbon energy infrastructure. Although a tax the Zimbabwean government calls ''

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions from producing goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the hidden Social cost of carbon, social costs of carbon emissions. They are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emis ...

'' exists, it only taxes certain imported fuels and more closely resembles a

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

fuel tax A fuel tax (also known as a petrol, gasoline or gas tax, or as a fuel duty) is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries, the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuel tax receipts are often dedica ...

Animal power

Animal power is a very useful source of energy in Zimbabwe. It is estimated that animals contribute with the equivalent of 6.8 million liters of diesel in the agricultural sector.

Fuelwood

Fuelwood is the most important domestic fuel in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. It was estimated to stand for about 50% of the total consumption in 2001. This has led to deforestation in parts of the country with accompanying environmental problems such as

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

and diminishing

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

Biogas

There is potential for

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

capture and distribution to reduce fuelwood consumption for cooking.

Coal

Zimbabwe has 30 billion tons of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

in 21 known deposits. This could last for over 100 years at the 2001 rate of production. In September 2013, the Chinese-backed company China Africa Sunlight Energy said it would begin work in early 2014 on a 600 MW coal-fired electricity plant in western

, part of $2 billion of energy projects in the country.

Liquid fuels

Zimbabwe owns a pipeline from the

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

port of Beira to

Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...

provides the majority of Zimbabwe's refined petroleum and diesel oil; the rest comes from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. An ambitious project to produce 20% of the country's liquid fuel as

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

from

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance * White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...

has been started in

Chipinge Chipinge, formerly known as Chipinga, is a town in Zimbabwe, located in Chipinge District, in Manicaland Province, in southeastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique. Location The town lies approximately , by road, south of Mutare ...

, Manicaland.

Electricity

Electricity generation

Electricity is generated at the

Kariba Dam Kariba may refer to: * Kariba, Zimbabwe * Lake Kariba * Kariba Dam * Kariba Gorge * Kariba (District) * Kariba weed, plant * For the ship, see MV Tricolor {{dab ...

(ca. 750 MW), the Hwange Thermal Power Station (installed capacity 920 MW) and three minor coal-fired stations. All coal-fired stations are in need of major upgrades due to neglect of maintenance and they have frequent production stops or are not producing at all. This leads to frequent and long lasting blackouts.

Electricity transmission and distribution

The governmental owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is the country's power generating and distributing company.

Electricity interconnectors

Zimbabwe is a member of the Southern African Power Pool. Imports of energy from neighbouring countries are not enough to solve the undercapacity problem and lack of electricity hampers

economic growth In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...

. A second interconnector with South Africa is in advanced planning stages, according to PIDA, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa. Construction of the Zimbabwe section of the 320 km/ 400 kV South Africa to Zimbabwe transmission interconnector will form part of the total 935 km project across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Distributed energy

Small scale power generators are used all over the country to ease the situation.

Renewable electricity

Hydro and Micro-hydro

Apart from the Kariba Dam power station, hydropower in Zimbabwe has still a lot of potential, especially along the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

river.

Solar electricity

Solar power has enormous potential both in small scale, such as water heating or in larger scale such as in solar power plants. However, the nation's current economic condition makes adequately rapid solar power buildups seem unrealistic, short of capital infusions and technology transfers from the developed world economies. Yet there is a thriving solar power industry with over a dozen companies providing solar power systems for residences and commercial enterprises with the largest PV power system of about 600 kWp for the Kefalos cheese factory. A project in partnership with the United Arab Emirates will result in the construction of a 2,000 MW solar power plant, built in two phases. If completed it would be the largest solar power plant in the world.

Wind power

Wind turbine farms could be other possibility for developing a renewable energy infrastructure for Zimbabwe which could comply with the post-2015

sustainable development goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

References

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