The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Business Correspondent
RENEWABLE energy start-up, Helix Energy Group has announced plans to raise funding to invest in a new green and clean energy business over the next three years.
In an interview, Helix Energy chief executive officer Mr Godfrey Haruzivishe said his company was dedicated towards developing Zimbabwe’s green energy sector and ensuring that power issues become a thing of the past especially in rural and under-developed communities.
This comes as energy giants around the world have come under pressure to move towards a low-carbon future to help improve the environment.
“We have started work on developing our renewable energy division, Helix Solar whose core focus is not only to retail solar equipment and accessories, but to manufacture them locally as well.
Over the next three years, we believe we will have attained our vision and we hope to become among the largest such integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the country,”
Helix Solar will build solar manufacturing units, a battery factory for energy storage, a fuel cell-making factory and an electrolyzer unit to produce green hydrogen as a part of the business, Mr Haruzivishe said.
“Helix Solar will be the cradle of our energy business,” he added.
He also revealed plans to build factories to manufacture and integrate all critical components of New Energy ecosystem — solar photovoltaic modules, energy storage batteries, electrolysers, and fuel cells.
“Helix will thus create and offer a fully integrated, end-to-end renewable energy eco-system,” Mr Haruzivishe said.
Along with that, M Haruzivishe also said that Helix Energy Group will invest in value chain creation, partnerships and future technologies, including upstream and downstream industries.
Helix Energy Group also has plans to build two additional divisions to further strengthen its footprint. The divisions will consist of a dedicated Renewable Energy Project Management and Construction Division and a dedicated Renewable Energy Project Finance Division.
“With these new initiatives, Helix will put Bulawayo and Zimbabwe on the world solar map.
All our products will proudly proclaim ‘Made in Zimbabwe, by Zimbabwe, for Zimbabwe and for the world,’” said Mr Haruzivishe, adding that Helix will set up a 10MW solar energy plant by 2030 which will be called the Helix Solar Park which the company hopes to grow to 100MW that will connected to the national grid.
Helix Energy Group is a newly founded Zimbabwean energy company based in Bulawayo.
The founders of Helix Energy Group hope to introduce new and innovative solar products in the energy industry in Zimbabwe and beyond.
The company plans to build commercial-scale solar fields in the country and beyond. – @RealSimbaJemwa
