Question

In as much as Zimbabwe has quite a number of sources related to geothermal energy production, give reasons why the technology has not been installed in the country. In your answer state the areas with sources. [20 MARKS]

Answer 1

Zimbabwe has always been known as a poor country. Though the economy has increased steadily in the recent times, but it is way too far from being a developed nation. The country has been recognised as one which has enough potential reserves for geothermal energy production. But technology has not yet been established. There are quite a few reasons behind it. The Zimbabwe electricity supply authority (ZESA) is the only electricity producing agency in the country for the public service. But the organisation has continuously failed to meet the energy demands of the country. The failures have been due to the unavailability of adequate coal for thermal power plants. Many rural areas of the country are devoid of getting full time electricity. The country's economy is also not so stable that it can spend highly more than the present budget plans for energy production and that has served to be one of the biggest problems for not installing enough technologies for production of geothermal energy.

The entire country has around 30 geothermal centres which have the potential of producing geothermal energy. But very little progress has been made till date to establish those sectors or drive electricity out of it. The two major sites of the country are Binga and Manicaland.