Tanganda renewable energy strategy pays off

24 Feb, 2023 - 00:02 0 Views
Tanganda renewable energy strategy pays off Tanganda Estates

eBusiness Weekly

Business Writer

Tanganda Tea Company, the largest producer, packer and distributor of tea products in Zimbabwe says renewable energy use steadily grew to 20,55 percent of the total energy used in 2022 following investments in solar power plants.

In a bid to reduce dependency on both thermal and hydropower from ZETDC which over the years has been erratic and costly, Tanganda adopted a strategy to invest in solar power plants which would also reduce usage of diesel generators.

“The use of renewable energy is expected to grow as the Company works on three remaining solar power sites,” the company said in its 2022 annual report.

During the year 2022, the company’s solar energy production reached 1,9 million kwh, an improvement from 271 043 kWh in 2021.

Consequently, power supplied by ZETDC declined 29,19 percent to 6,68 million kWh from 9,44 million kWh in 2021 while generator power increased by 8,5 percent to 801 200Kwh from 398 618kWh in 2021 attributed mainly to periods of bad weather. The company said improved energy management methods led to an overall decline of 6,8 percent in power usage to 9,42 million kWh from 10,11 million kWh in the previous year.

According to Tanganda, energy plays an important role in its operations and business value chains, hence efficient and effective use of energy is a key objective.

The company noted that in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and impact of curtailments in the supply of electricity by ZETDC, it constructed and completed the installation of a 1,8MW solar plant at Ratelshoek estate, a 1,2 MW solar plant at Tingamira estate and a 1,4MW solar plant at Jersey estate.

It said green energy is in line with the company’s policy on fighting climate change. “The introduction of green energy resulted in a reduction of generator fuel usage of 22 percent.

“Total fuel used for the year 2022 saw a 3,6 percent reduction in diesel use and 8,3 percent in petrol usage over the previous period,” the company said.

Meanwhile, the group’s revenue for the year of $12,22 billion in 2022 grew by 7,7 percent from the previous year of $11,35 billion.

Profit after tax improved to $583 million from a loss of $318 million in the previous year. In historical cost terms it increased from a profit of $668 million to a profit of $4,2 billion.

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