Sinokubonga Nkala
Oliver Kazunga, Harare Bureau
PRETORIA Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe will accelerate the construction of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 30 megawatts (MW) in Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo to enhance power supply to its factories.
Zimbabwe’s biggest cement maker can produce a combined 1,4 million tonnes per annum from its two factories in Bulawayo and Harare.
Speaking at a Press conference in Harare recently, PPC Zimbabwe managing director Mr 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,” he said.
Mr Sigei said development of the solar projects, which require 18 months to complete, were expected to begin in the first quarter next year.
As a leading cement producer, PPC continues to play a significant role in uplifting the living standards of the country’s citizens through infrastructural development projects that include roads, housing, and dam construction.
This is in line with the objectives of Vision 2030 where the country aims to attain an upper middle-income society underpinned by the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the Government’s five-year economic development programme that comes to an end next year and would be replaced by a similar blueprint — NDS2, which will take the country to the desired aspiration.
The Government has prioritised infrastructure development 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.”
In the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, the cement producer managed to maintain sufficient supplies to the market with stock cover days being above 40 days for most of the period.
“This allowed us to complete our annual maintenance in September 2024 without affecting product supplies to the market.
“This has been made possible through the dedicated input of our staff and business partners to whom we are grateful,” said Mr Sigei.
At industry level, he said the local cement manufacturers have more than sufficient installed cement grinding capacity to meet the country’s demand.
“Our installed capacity is just over three million tonnes versus annual demand estimated at 1,8 million tonnes.
“Despite this, we have continued to witness a massive influx of imports into the country.
“We estimate that the country will unnecessarily lose over US$50 million of scarce foreign exchange annually if firm action to curb the imports is not taken,” said Mr Sigei.
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