ZIMBABWE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nikita Madya and Chantele Sibanda, Wintertons
tled – in accordance with an arrangement approved by ZERA or permitted by a licence issued to another licensee – to sell power to Zimbabwean licensees or consumers without a licence from ZERA. Under Section 11 of the Licensing Regulations, any- one who operates an electric generator (including standalone generators) that is capable of generating, distributing or transmitting in excess of 100 kW must obtain a licence under Section 40 of the Electricity Act, unless they can show ZERA that the generator in question is for the sole use of their household or busi- ness. The notification must occur within 60 days of acquiring the generator. ZERA may order and conduct an inspection and, if it determines that the generator is for personal use, will issue an indefinite permit with conditions to comply with public safety standards and • the Petroleum Act (Chapter 13:22); • the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations; • SI 155/2015 Electricity Licensing Regulations Amendment; and • SI 101/2021 Electricity (Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations. 3.2 Obtaining Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities Section 4 of the Licensing Regulations governs the processes and timelines for each licence. Applicants must fill out the appropriate application form (Form EL1 for primary licences and Form EL2 for secondary electricity licences) and pay the licence fee to ZERA (the amount to be paid is detailed within SI 55/2015, which is an amendment to the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations). Within 30 days of receiving the application, ZERA must publish a notice in two consecutive issues of a national newspaper inviting representations from the public in writing. Thereafter, ZERA must forward such representations together with the application to the Technical Committee (which consists of technical experts retained as consultants by ZERA under Sec- to allow further inspection by ZERA. The principal laws are as follows: • the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19); • the ERA Act (Chapter 13:23);
tion 19 of the Electricity Act). The Technical Committee will have 45 days in which to consider the applications and representations and make a recommendation to the ZERA board. ZERA may either grant or reject the application or may compel the Technical Committee to reconsider. In the event of a reconsideration, the Technical Committee will have 15 days to reconsider the application and report back to ZERA. ZERA may hold public hearings before its decision and may impose general terms and conditions over and above those usually included in a licence. ZERA requires the following information/documents in order to consider an application for a power genera- tion licence:
• proposed generation capacity; • buyer/off-taker arrangements; • electricity generation cost; • grid impact assessment;
• fuel supply arrangement(s)/agreement(s); • proposed power purchase agreement; • proposed interconnection point to the transmission system; • pre-feasibility/feasibility study report; • maps indicating the location of the generating plant; • land use permit; • water extraction permit; • environmental impact assessment prospectus/cer- tificate; and • project timeline/Gantt chart/implementation. 3.3 Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities Section 47 of the Electricity Act provides for the terms and conditions that may be prescribed or that ZERA may reasonably determine in the circumstances. ZERA may prescribe terms and conditions after con- sidering aspects such as: • the size and scope of the undertaking or business; • whether it is to be a monopoly or competitive service; • whether the service is to be provided pursuant to a contract between the parties; and
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