Staff Reporter

In an effort to increase yield for wheat crop this winter 2022/2023 season, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has approached the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC) with a proposal to install smart meters for farmers.

This publication managed to speak to one tobacco farmer, Mike Taona, from Mashonaland West Province, who revealed that the installation of smart meters gave farmers an opportunity to schedule their electricity use targeting peak and off-peak times.

“The smart meters are the best compared to conventional meters as they give us an option to choose when to use electricity to our advantage.  Smart meters enable farmers to migrate and take advantage of time of use tariff. Conventional meters do not have that facility.  So as farmers we requested that ZETDC extends the installation of smart meters even to farmers whose load is below 75Kva,” said Taona.

The current peak-tariff for farmers was ZWL$13.71/kWh, whilst the standard and off-peak is at ZWL$11.93/kWh and ZWL$8.36/kWh respectively.  The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is expected to generate an average of 1 200 MW during the coming 2022/2023. 

Meanwhile, Hwange is expected to produce 320 MW, Kariba 350 MW, an average of 400 MW from Hydro de Cahora Bassa, Eskom 300 MW and 50 MW from Electricity De Mozambique, to add up to 1350MW.  This will help serve both domestic, manufacturing and farming purposes, with a deficit of 400MW to meet the total demand of electricity which is  1700 MW during the winter season.