Potential of (NIERP) National Integrated Energy Resource Plan under the Energy Sector Reform Support project

The Government of Zimbabwe received Grant Funding from the African Development Fund part of which will be used to carry out the National Integrated Energy Resource Plan (NIERP) under the Energy Sector Reform Support Project (ESRSP).

The gist of the plan is to see projects being implemented through a competitive procurement process to attract cost effective projects. Until the commissioning of Hwange 7 and 8, the country was grappling with power shortages and reduced power imports due to the acute shortage of foreign currency.

The Ministry of Energy and Power Development (MoEPD) indicated that the purpose of the plan is ‘to examine available energy resources and determine the least–cost energy options, evaluate the security of supply options while providing information on the opportunities for investment into new energy projects.”

Additionally, NIERP intends to examine specific public policies, including those on security of energy supply and the risks associated with the current system.

Moreover the exercise will analyse current energy consumption trends within different sectors of the economy and use the information gathered to anticipate future energy requirements based on different dynamics.