Zim-Rec platform offers large volume of Zimbabwe I-RECs

Market: Electricity
01/09/26

Nearly 4TWh of hydropower International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) in Zimbabwe have been put on sale through a domestic trading platform, increasing local supply significantly.

A total of 3.8TWh of hydropower I-RECs generated from the 1.05GW Kariba South Bank plant between July 2025-26 are on sale on the Zim-Rec platform, with no expiry date. Domestic hydropower I-RECs have previously traded at around $1-1.50/MWh, although volumes have been small. Total Zimbabwe I-REC issuance has been less than 28GWh since 2023, when the country was approved for I-REC issuance.

Apart from the Kariba South hydropower station, first commissioned in 1960, only one other 5MW hydropower station commissioned in 2024 has been registered to issue I-RECs in Zimbabwe. No plants of other generating technologies have been registered.

Market participants in Zimbabwe retired 1.53GWh of I-RECs in 2025 and 150MWh so far in 2026. Most of the certificates used are from neighbouring South Africa. Argus last assessed current-year South African solar and wind I-RECs at $0.59/MWh on 27 August.

Zimbabwe's National Renewable Energy Policy, adopted in 2019, had called for mandatory renewable purchase obligations, which would require consumers to document a portion of renewables in their electricity consumption. The scheme has not been implemented, but Zim-Rec founding company Silver Carbon is in discussions with the government to finalise and introduce the mechanism.

Zimbabwe is part of the Southern African Power Pool, a programme working to connect the power grids of 12 regional countries. Corporate standards such as RE100 do not recognise the pool as a single RECs market, but the Greenhouse Gas Protocol is considering recognising regional African power pools as part of proposed deliverability clauses under its Scope 2 guidance.

Zimbabwe is targeting 2.1GW of renewable power capacity, excluding large hydropower, by 2030. The country has 105MW of grid connected solar and 100MW of bioenergy in 2025, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

By Liang Lei

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Zim-Rec platform offers large volume of Zimbabwe I-RECs

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