THE Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) says nine megawatts of clean energy are being added to the national grid through the net metering system, thereby reducing load-shedding periods and power imports.
Net metering is a concept that during the day, when solar panels soak up the sun, they generate more electricity than is needed.
Instead of letting that excess power go to waste, one can send it back to the grid through a special meter.In return, one gets credits on their electricity bill, like a solar currency they can use when the sun goes down.ZERA says more electricity can be added to the national grid through net metering.
“We have about 9 megawatts being fed into the grid right now, with 78% coming from commercial installations, while 22% is coming from domestic installations. Currently, ZETDC is looking at 97 applications before them with a further 9 megawatts, which means with these processed by the end of the year we will end up with 18 megawatts coming from the net metering system,” said ZERA chief executive officer, Edington Mazambani.
ZERA is working tirelessly to streamline the net metering process and encourage more people to join the solar revolution.He added, “Since the beginning of the year we have been going around the country raising awareness on the net metering concept at least at provincial levels. By the end of the year, we hope to cover the whole country. We continue to encourage Zimbabweans to adopt net metering.”
The revelations from ZERA are testimony that Zimbabwe’s National Renewable Energy and Biofuels Policy, which seeks to promote optimal supply and utilisation of energy for socio-economic development, is bearing fruit through operationalisation of net metering and other initiatives.
