Milicent Chasinda
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) yesterday hosted a Stakeholders Consultation and Feedback workshop aimed at reviewing achievements and challenges it faced as a regulatory body.
The workshop was attended by officials from the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), Chamber of Mines, Consumer Protection of Zimbabwe, Sustenergy and famer’s representatives, among others.
ZETDC engineer, John Chikeya, emphasised the need for restoring energy security as well as sustainably developing efficient, reliable and secure power sectors.
Chikeya also raised concerns around vandalism and theft of aging infrastructure, as well as a lack of refurbishment and capacity upgrades to meet new demands.
He said in excess US$2 billion was required to restore transmission and distribution network integrity.
“We need more power. For the past three weeks there has been no load shedding and that paints a good picture.
“We have major challenges that come into play in summer so there is a need for sustainable development. We are trying to build and others are destroying what we are building,” he said.