Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo has installed a 750-kilowatt solar power plant to strengthen energy supply at the institution, a development expected to reduce pressure on the national electricity grid while providing uninterrupted power for critical medical services.
The solar project, commissioned on Tuesday, consists of 1 300 panels that will power the 169-bed hospital and contribute to Zimbabwe’s broader energy security strategy.
The project was funded by the United Nations Zimbabwe and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with Old Mutual Zimbabwe at a cost of about US$810 000.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Old Mutual Zimbabwe Group Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Matsekete, said the project was financed through a partnership involving government, development agencies and the private sector.
“The solar plant project was financed by the Renewable Energy Fund, which is a partnership between the government, the United Nations development agencies, Old Mutual and other private sector players that came on board,” he said.
Matsekete added that the project also benefited from support from individuals and organisations who volunteered their services.
Mater Dei Hospital Medical Director, Adolf Macheka, said the project was driven by the need to ensure reliable electricity for life-saving medical services.
“Our biggest challenge as a nation is being energy resilient. When that happens, energy-health integration becomes critical because it is a matter of life and death,” he said.
Macheka said hospitals could not afford electricity interruptions because of the nature of the services they provide.
“We have critical services like ICU, coronary care and theatre processes which by their nature cannot afford to have energy interruption,” said Mater Dei’s medical director.
He said the solar system would make sure the hospital remains operational even during national grid failures.
“The whole idea is that when we have a national grid failure we are resilient. We do not have to depend on external energy production because we are self-sustainable,” said Macheka.
The solar plant has a capacity of 750 kilowatts and is expected to generate about 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, more than the hospital requires.
“We have a plant that produces about 1.3 million kilowatt hours of energy annually and that energy is in fact surplus to what Mater Dei Hospital needs,” Macheka said.
He added that the hospital had already begun feeding excess electricity into the national grid.
“In the one month that the project has been operational, we have noticed that with good sunny weather we can feed about 1 000 kilowatts of energy into the grid,” he said.
According to Macheka, the solar plant is expected to last between 25 and 30 years and could recover its installation costs within five years.
“The solar power system has a lifespan of between 25 and 30 years and within about five years this power plant will have paid itself back,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development, Yeukai Simbanegavi, who attended the commissioning ceremony, said Zimbabwe was working to strengthen both national and regional energy security while transitioning towards renewable energy sources.
“Zimbabwe as a nation has also been contributing to regional energy security, so we have to play our part as a government,” she said.
Simbanegavi said the country was still relying largely on hydro and coal power but was gradually incorporating renewable energy sources.
“Even as a developing nation we are still utilising our hydro and coal to generate electricity. However, we are now transitioning into using renewable sources of energy,” she said.
She added that the government was encouraging institutions and businesses to generate their own electricity to reduce pressure on the national grid.
“We have now said we will incorporate the private and public sectors into generating electricity on their own, not only waiting for the government to supply power but for everyone to play their role,” she said.
Simbanegavi said institutions that produce excess electricity could also feed power into the grid and generate additional revenue.
“When institutions generate electricity for themselves and have extra that they put on the grid, they are also able to generate income for themselves which can be used to develop the hospital in other ways,” she said.