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REA to train Midlands biogas digesters builders

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REA to train Midlands biogas digesters builders

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Sydney Mubaiwa
MIDLANDS BUREAU CHIEF


GWERU-The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is working on training builders from all wards in the Midlands Province to construct biogas digesters, REA Midlands manager Silba Zimwara has said.
She said this at the belated Consumer Council Day commemorations at Stone Crushers in Gweru recently. She added that the program is to reduce electricity bills and dependency on firewood.
REA is a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Holdings.
“It is for this reason that REA has not wasted time embarking on biogas and other renewable energy sources. For biogas energy, there are a total of 11 institutions which include schools and clinics that already have their plants.
“Gokwe North has one institution, Gweru four, Kwekwe two, Shurugwi two and Zvishavane two institutions. We are going to train builders from each ward so that they come and assist in this development which we seek to cascade from the village level,” she said.
Biogas is a low-cost clean energy produced through any waste such as cow dung, human waste, and industrial waste. Decomposed waste fed into a biogas digester produces gas in the absence of air.
The gas can then be burned as fuel for lighting, cooking and heating, while on a large scale it can generate electricity. The slug that remains, is rich in nitrogen and is used as organic fertilizer.
Zimwara said while meaningful progress in the provision of biogas energy is noted in the province, remarkable progress has been also made in the provision of solar energy.
She said 105 institutions have had solar systems installed across the province.
“For solar power, Gokwe North has 18 centres or institutions. Gokwe South has 30, Gweru six, Kwekwe 17, Mberengwa nine, Mvuma eight, Shurugwi six and Zvishavane 12,” she said.
She said one such solar project is at Melusi Primary and Secondary schools in Zhombe, Kwekwe, where the two schools use solar energy.
“We installed a 20 KW system at these schools. The beneficiaries are as happy about this development as we are embracing solar as one of the alternative energy sources people can use,” she said.
She said plans are underway to install a solar system at Sawu Primary and Secondary schools in Gokwe North.
She urged communities to provide requisite security so the infrastructure is not vandalized.

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