The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has announced plans to strengthen the national grid by constructing a 330 kilovolt (kV) power line from Mutare to Chiredzi.
The move is aimed at boosting electricity supply to farmers in the Lowveld, a region that has long struggled with unreliable power.
Speaking before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce on Tuesday, ZETDC Acting Managing Director, Engineer Abel Gurupira confirmed that construction work is already underway.
“We want to install a 330-kilovolt line from Orange Grove, that is in Mutare to Triangle. This is a way to capacitates us to bring power from Mozambique, like from EDM through Mutare via that corridor, to Orange Grove then to Triangle. We are already on site and we are having supplies coming from another route like from Mwangi via Tokwe to Triangle because that line is existent,” Gurupira said.
He added that the upgrade would significantly enhance electricity delivery to farmers.
“So that one also will be upgraded to 330 kV. Ideally, what that does is just to increase the capacity within the low-field areas where we have a lot of farmers in desperate need of electricity,” he said
Sugarcane farmers in the region have for years decried erratic power supply largely due to ageing infrastructure even as production continues to increase.
Gurupira also noted ZETDC’s cooperation with various farming clusters to ensure consistent power supply.
“We are working together with the winter wheat farming clusters, where we ensure that there is no road shedding whatsoever during the farming season, also the tobacco, there is that support.
“And we are saying the same thing for the sugar industry. As long as the clusters are organised and they are irrigating, then we also ensure we ring fence so that there is no road shedding for them,” he said.
ZETDC Commercial Services Manager, Engineer John Chikeya, highlighted ongoing efforts to modernise and secure the grid.
“As ZETDC, we’re advancing a smart grid initiative which includes installation of smart water reclosers and smart meters. The initiative seeks to enhance electricity reliability for sugar millers and irrigators and ensuring prioritised power supply during outages,” he told the Committee
He further outlined upgrades to substations and transformers including a 100% capacity increase at Chiredzi Town Substation and planned solar projects for well-performing farming communities. The Committee, chaired by Zaka South MP Clemence Chiduwa is investigating challenges within the country’s sugar value chain
Toy poodle / July 17, 2025
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