Staff Reporter

Gutu Rural District Council (GRDC), in collaboration with Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) is developing a 5-megawatt solar plant near Tatoraivhu Primary School.

The US$10 million solar power project will be built, in Ward 7, approximately eight kilometres from Mupandawana, between Wheatlands and Berrysprings farms.

The Local Authority Master Plan Focal Person, Tapiwanashe Mutema said the project will be strategically located near the Mvuma-Gutu power station and is estimated to generate five megawatts of power to be added on the national grid.

"GRDC will be shareholder in the 5 MW project which is to run for 25 years, adding that finalisation of paperwork with Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development under which the project land falls, is now in its final stages," said Mutema.

Council Finance Committee Chairperson, Ticharwa Kagu briefed the full council on the land and road preparations as well as the erection of the boundary fence as the wait for the IDBZ project fund.

"We expect the project to begin towards the end of the year. It is expected to employ over 100 school graduates, with 32 initially contracted for the base work," Kagu stated. 

Mutema further noted that the Rural Electricity Authority (REA) is operating a solar field project at Tongogara or Soti Source Business Centre, in Ward Three, which has been given six hectares for a solar project.

 "The Soti Source project will supply power to Nyazvidzi, Soti Source, and Chiguhune areas, which had been left behind under the national grid electrification program."  he said

Ward Councillor Petros Magumise said the project has been launched and is expected to go a long way towards bringing the Ward into the digital age, as schools and other institutions in the region lacked power.

The Councillor called on mobile cellular carriers to install transmitters in the area, stating all mobile network accessibility has been a problem in the area and that citizens may be excluded from the 2030 Vision if this is not addressed soon.

"People in my Ward and the nearby wards in the Nyazvidzi area have to travel to higher ground or mountains to access networks, which is unacceptable in this day and age," said Magumise