Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe will accelerate the construction of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 30MW in Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo to enhance power supply to its factories.
Speaking at a Press conference in Harare recently, PPC Zimbabwe’s Managing Director, Albert Sigei, said while they continue to engage the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) over improved electricity supply, his organisation was also making frantic efforts to build two solar plants in Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo: "We continue to engage ZETDC to address the incessant power challenges. And we are also accelerating our 20MW and 10MW solar projects at Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo factory under a Power Purchase Agreement model.” Mr Sigei said development of the solar projects, which require 18 months to complete, were expected to begin in the first quarter next year.
The government has prioritised the development of infrastructure as one of the 14 key pillars to the attainment of the national vision. "PPC Zimbabwe continues to play a pivotal role in the country as we pursue our mission of empowering people to experience a better quality of life while supporting the country in pursuit of Vision 2030 objectives. To this end, PPC Zimbabwe made a solid contribution by supplying more than 50 percent of the country's cement requirements, including the supply to major infrastructure projects such as the Mbudzi interchange and the various dams and roads projects that were carried out by the Government," said Mr Sigei.
PPC Zimbabwe operates a clinker plant at Colleen Bawn and two grinding plants at Bulawayo and Harare. The company has a combined cement capacity of 1.46Mta.
