Zimplats pushes on with 45MW solar expansion to cut Zimbabwe grid risk

Zimbabwe's largest platinum producer, Zimplats, is continuing to invest in its own solar generation to insulate its operations from the country's persistent grid instability, with cumulative spending on its Phase 2A solar project reaching $34 million by the end of the quarter to 31 March 2026. The 45MW Phase 2A plant is on track for completion in the first half of Zimplats' 2027 financial year, which would take the company's total installed solar capacity to 80MW, up from the 35MW Phase 1A plant commissioned in August 2024.

The company invested a further $10 million in the project during the March 2026 quarter alone, on top of $12 million spent in the previous quarter and $36 million committed overall for the 45MW phase, out of a total project cost of $54 million. Phase 1A and Phase 2A together form the first stages of a considerably larger ambition: Zimplats has outlined plans for up to 185MW of solar capacity in total, intended to materially reduce its reliance on the national grid run by Zesa.

Insurance against an unreliable grid

Zimplats' steady, quarter-by-quarter capital spending on solar reflects a mining company treating power security as core infrastructure rather than a discretionary environmental initiative. Zimbabwe's mining sector has for years absorbed the cost of unscheduled outages and rationing tied to both drought-affected hydropower at Kariba and ageing thermal capacity at Hwange, even as Zesa has more recently reported long stretches without load shedding and pledged to eliminate outages entirely by December 2026.

Part of a platinum-sector-wide shift

Zimplats' build-out mirrors moves by other Zimbabwean platinum group metals producers on the Great Dyke, the geological formation hosting the country's PGM deposits, including Unki Mine's own plans for a 30MW to 50MW solar facility. For a sector where smelting and concentrator operations require continuous power, the steady progression from 35MW to 80MW and eventually toward 185MW gives Zimplats a hedge against grid risk that does not depend on Zesa's own turnaround succeeding on schedule.

Sources

• Mining Zimbabwe: Zimplats ramps up solar investment to cut power risks, 01 May 2026
• Ecofin Agency: Zimbabwe's Zimplats Expands Power Supply with 45-Megawatt Solar Plant, 04 Nov 2025

Photo: Satellite view of Zimbabwe's Great Dyke, the geological formation hosting Zimplats' platinum operations. NASA ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.