Staff writer
Regional leading solar energy solution company-Sinogy is set to make Zimbabwe an energy hub for Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, The Southern Times has learnt.
In an interview, Sinogy Chief Executive Officer-Edward Zhuzhenxing said the organization has plans underway to expand its project in Beitbridge into an energy hub for SADC.
“Our 175MW solar plant project in Beitbridge including a 220km 400kv high voltage transmission line and it is the biggest solar plant license in Zimbabwe and the continent so far. However, we have the idea to further develop the project and enlarge the capacity. We also have more financial institutes that are showing interests in funding the project such as Afrieximbank and DBSA,” said ZhuZhenxing.
He said the current 175MW solar plant in Beitbridge is strategically positioned between Zimbabwe and South Africa which makes it easier to export energy to other SADC countries.
“This project will be the iconic solar project for the whole Zimbabwe and Sinogy plans to make Beitbridge the energy hub due to its strategic location where is close to four SADC countries namely: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. The solar plant can be expended to serve all the SADC countries. Through this project and further expansion, Zimbabwe can even become an Energy Exporting country,” he added.
He said Sinogy started developing the Beitbridge project in 2013.
According to ZhuZhenxing, the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC) is also purchasing power from the project following a signed 75MW Power Purchase Agreement with Sinogy.
Sinogy is a solution provider for renewable energy and it is known for being one of the earliest company to bring the containerized energy storage system in Africa and put it into commercial usage.
Its solutions comes at a time when the SADC region is striving for energy efficiency as load shading is crippling both primary and secondary industries.
To date the company is providing its solar solutions to South Africa, Zimbabwe, DRC, Mozambique and Comoros.
Sinogy was firstly founded in South Africa. The vision of the company is to provide quality and renewable energy to the whole African people and build No.1 energy brand with best quality and services. One of the Sinogy shareholder is the China listed solar company Jiawei Renewable ( Stock code 300317). The company aims at creating a series of business models to address the market pain points and demands.
According to ZhuZhenxing, in a short term- Sinogy’s target is to become the leading SADC renewable energy solution provider.
“For mid-term, Sinogy’s target is to be the regional leading IPP (Independent Power Producer) and for long term, Sinogy’s target is to be the leading Renewable energy solution provider and IPP in the whole Africa,” he said.
-The Southern Times
