Oursun Energy, a subsidiary of Swiss energy and communications firm Meeco Group, has applied for a license to set up a 5-MW solar plant as part of a cluster of power generation projects that the firm has targeted to establish in Zimbabwe.
Meeco and Oursun envision developing 230 MW of grid connected solar PV installations over the next five years, 5 MW at a time.
Two projects have been started, one in Mt Hampden on Lomagundi Road and the other in Melfort along Mutare Road. Both projects are designed to generate a combined capacity of 10 MWof electricity to be fed into the national grid by December 2015.
As of February Oursun has secured €6.4 million in mezzanine/trade financing from Meeco Services Deutschland for the first two plants and secured 40 hectares of land in total for the two projects.
Energy sector regulator, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera), said the plant will be operated under the name Oursun Melfort Power Private Ltd.