RABAT - A Zimbabwean special purpose vehicle (SPV), Ravensus Private Limited, is courting investors for its US$90 million, 100 megawatt (MW) Shangani Solar Power Plant.
In the past week, the firm stepped up efforts to mobilise funding to construct and operate the project during an interface with investors in Morocco.
Ravensus was established by three local companies — Raven Energy, Sustenergy, and Amanzi Corp (Pvt) Ltd.
The SPV was formed to drive clean energy adoption, close the skills gap in solar technologies, and help Zimbabwe meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The project was pitched to investors during the Africa Investment Forum Market Days 2025 in Rabat, by the SPV’s Zimbabwe based financial advisors, MMC Capital.
MMC Capital executive director Itai Chirume outlined the project’s funding requirements.
“The Revensus project is a 100MW power plant based in Insiza district, Shangani area (Matabeleland South), to be implemented in two phases of 50MW each, with the first phase incorporating the construction of a 61,5 kilometre transmission line and a battery energy storage system base, requiring US$60 million,” he said.
“We expect construction to happen between mid-2026 right through to the end of 2027, with the second phase of the next 50MW coming through early 2028, but requiring much less, just US$30 million.
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“So, we expect the entire 100MW project to cost about US$90 million.”
The government has been promoting the participation of independent power producers to bridge a national power deficit currently estimated at between 1 500MW and 2 000MW.
“We expect to raise 80% of that US$90 million as debt and 20% as equity,” Chirume said.
“We need to demonstrate skin in the game for our local investor community, for which we are thankful that earlier this month this project was conferred with prescribed asset status by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion through the Insurance and Pensions Commission.”
Chirume said the hoped was to make the project attractive to pension funds and insurance companies.
“We have got a power deficit not only in Zimbabwe but in the region. I think between Zimbabwe and South Africa alone there is a power deficit of 5 000MW, half of which is for Zimbabwe.”
With mining houses driving much of the demand, Ravensus has secured an off-taker for the project from the Intensive Energy User Group (IEUG), a consortium of about 104 mining companies mandated to use at least 2MW monthly.
Chirume said the offtake agreement was US dollar denominated, offering a strong hedge for both local and international investors.
It is a 20-year power purchase agreement at a base tariff of nine US cents per kilowatt-hour, while extra power will be traded through the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) at peak rates.
“We are excited, and we hope and expect that from the audience that we had in the boardroom, we should be able to mobilise sufficient capital to at least roll out phase one,” Chirume said.
He added that the project’s membership in SAPP opened access to a broader regional market of about 300 million people across 12 countries, as any excess power can be sold into the pool at premium peak tariffs.
This boosts the project’s commercial appeal beyond Zimbabwe’s 16 million-strong domestic market.
The project is expected to unlock between 300 and 400 jobs for the Shangani community.
Zimbabwe’s electricity shortages have been exacerbated by climate change.
Last year, a severe drought attributed to the El Nino, a climate phenomenon that can lead to poor rainfall or flooding, saw water levels at the Kariba South station declining to an extent that electricity generation dropped by more than 80%.
At some point the power station generated a mere 185MW instead of an installed capacity of 1 050 MW a day.
Zimbabwe gets around 42% of its electricity from coal-fired thermal plants while hydropower provides 35% and independent power producers account for 3%.
The country also imports electricity from South Africa, Mozambique and other countries, which make up 20%, according to Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority figures. To mitigate the crisis, the government has been pivoting to renewable sources of electricity with more solar power being added to the energy mix.
The government in 2019 scrapped duty on solar panels and related products, like small home solar units.
Zimbabwe deployed 70 MW of solar by the end of 2024, up from 46 MW at the end of the previous year, according to the International Renewable Agency.
One of the biggest solar projects being planned for the country is the 1 000MW hybrid floating solar system on Lake Kariba, the world’s largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume.
The project to be implemented by Green Hybrid Power will be implemented in two phases.
A pilot phase will target a generation capacity of 500 MW and the energy would wholly sold to a consortium of industrial and mining energy users under a 20-year power purchase agreement, with a cost-reflective tariff.
