ZIMBABWE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nikita Madya and Chantele Sibanda, Wintertons
1. Structure and Ownership of the Power Industry 1.1 Law Governing the Structure and Ownership of the Power Industry In Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Energy and Power Devel- opment is responsible for the power industry. Its major function is to develop an effective policy and legisla- tive framework for the energy sector. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) was established in 2011 by the Energy Regulatory Authority Act (Chapter 13:23) (the “ERA Act”) and is responsible for the direct regulation of the power industry. ZERA took over the responsibilities of the Electricity Regulatory Commission, which was estab- lished under the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19) and was previously responsible for the regulation of the electricity sector in Zimbabwe. To ensure the provision of electricity in rural areas, the government enacted the Rural Electrification Fund Act (Chapter 13:20) (the “REF Act”) to facilitate the rapid and equitable electrification of rural areas. A govern- ment agency called the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) was established under the REF Act and its operations are funded through the Rural Electrifica- tion Fund (REF). REA is responsible for the construc- tion of the grid network infrastructure in rural areas and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Dis- tribution Company (Private) Limited (ZETDC) collects the levy and operates and maintains the developed infrastructure. At present, the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of power in Zimbabwe are principally car- ried out by a wholly government-owned parastatal called ZESA Holdings Limited – the operations of which are conducted through subsidiary companies with distinct but interlinked responsibilities. The Zim- babwe Power Company (Private) Limited (ZPC) owns the power generation assets and is responsible for the generation of power. ZETDC owns the assets for the distribution, transmission and supply functions. ZESA Enterprises is responsible for providing support functions to the power generation, transmission and distribution entities.
The industry includes investor-owned registered inde- pendent power producers (IPPs); a total of 253 IPPs are licensed to date to carry out generation activities, with a combined capacity of 16,444.64 MW. As of July 2026, there were 68 operational IPPs with a combined capacity of 426,971.06 MW, with 17 of them feeding 77.73 MW into the grid and the balance being for own consumption. The generation, transmission, distribution and supply of power are principally regulated by the Electricity Act, together with the ERA Act. The regulations under the Electricity Act for the licensing of the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity were passed in 2008 as the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 2008, published as Statutory Instrument (SI) 103/2008. They were further amended by Statu- tory Instrument 55/2015 (together, the “Licensing Regulations”). The major applicable legislation is as follows: • the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19); • the ERA Act (Chapter 13:23); • the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations – SI 103/2008; • SI 55/2015 Electricity Licensing Regulations Amendment; and • Electricity (Net Metering) Regulations 2018. 1.2 Principal State-Owned or Investor-Owned Entities ZESA Holdings Limited and its two subsidiaries, ZPC and ZETDC, own and operate the generation, trans- mission and distribution facilities in Zimbabwe. REA is responsible for the development of power infrastruc- ture in rural areas. ZPC is directly licensed to oper- ate five power stations (four coal-powered and one hydro), which are all operational. It also has one hydro power station licensed under Kariba Hydro Power Company and one coal-fired power plant licensed under the Hwange Electricity Power Company, which is still under construction. Independent power producers that feed into the national grid include Nyangani Renewable Energy, with several mini hydro and solar projects, Centragrid
476 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook