COP18 (30/11/12) – Engineer Jhon Mberi, Board Chairman of Zimbabwe’s Rural Electrification Authority, describes the work being undertaken in Zimbabwe to shift the energy system from coal and large-scale hydropower to renewable generation.

Mberi affirms that there is much potential for solar, biomass and small scale hydropower in Zimbabwe. In particular he stresses the potential to create biogas from cheap vegetation, cow dung and sewage and hydropower from the small rivers that lace the nation.

Mberi explains that improving the energy infrastructure is vital to Zimbabwe’s development. He describes the parallel process of expanding Zimbabwe’s national grid and supporting the development of ‘off-grid’ electricity generation.

Mberi states that their next challenge is financing these projects – either from domestic pension funds or international investors.