Zimbabwe mulls connecting ethanol plant to grid to tap excess power

In Zimbabwe, electricity parastatal Zesa Holdings is deliberating over building the required infrastructure to tap into its systems electricity generated at the Chisumbanje ethanol plant as the country faces a crippling power crisis. The country currently requires 2,200MW of electricity, but due to limited capacity, is currently only able to produce about 1,400MW.

US biofuels company, GreenFuel, partnered with the Zimbabwe government in a US$600 million ethanol production project in Chisumbanje, which currently has a production capacity of 18MW, using bio-waste for ethanol production.

However, there is no infrastructure to carry electricity from the ethanol plant to the Zesa grid for distribution across the country. A GreenFuel spokesperson said there was still need for an agreement with Zesa regarding the electricity purchase price.