China Energy Engineering Corporation has proposed a 1GW floating solar installation at the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. . State-owned China Energy made proposals to Zimbabwe Power Corporation and a private consortium of industrial electricity consumers.

Low water levels at the Kariba Dam hydroelectric plant and an underperforming coal-fired power plant have led to power shortages in Zimbabwe, where rolling blackouts similar to those in neighboring South Africa have been a problem for years. In 2019, the country's President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced plans to deploy a 2GW solar portfolio with the support of the United Arab Emirates to address this issue.

The two countries have an important and longstanding investment and trade relationship; two Chinese-owned coal-fired power plants in Zimbabwe came online last week. Economic ties between the two countries have remained important since Zimbabwe instituted its Look East policy more than a decade ago to foster bilateral ties with China. According to the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe, in the first half of 2022, the total bilateral trade between the two countries will be close to US$1 billion.

Research by Fitch Solutions predicts that Zimbabwe will be one of the most promising emerging PV markets for the remainder of the decade. Floating solar is rapidly maturing as a technology as it opens up more deployment sites and can increase the penetration of renewable energy in areas where suitable land is limited. If the project comes to fruition, it will be one of the largest floating solar installations in the world.Editor/XingWentao