Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)-listed Hippo Valley Estates is expanding its internally generated power distribution network across the company’s estates to mitigate the negative impact of outages on its operations.
In its Integrated Report for 2025, the company highlighted significant challenges including water shortage, electricity supply interruptions and challenges from the operating environment.
“In our sugar production process, bagasse availability directly affects electricity production. As production increases, so does bagasse availability, leading to more electricity generation.
“Conversely, lower production volumes result in less energy generated.
“While our electricity purchases from the grid have been decreasing due to limited supply, we remain committed to efficient production,” said the company.
The sugar producer said 58 869 megawatt-hours (MWh) had been generated in the current year (2024:49 154MWh), 10 844MWh were purchased (2024:18 257MWh), while 2 657MWh were exported to the grid (2024:568MWh).
The company said this improvement was due to better plant availability, production efficiencies and cane availability in 2025 compared to 2024.
“On average, the company used about 0.30MWh of electricity for every ton of sugar produced, a slight improvement from 2024, 0.32MWh per tonne of sugar produced.”
Hippo Valley said extended power outages disrupted irrigation operations, particularly in areas reliant on electric pumps and overhead irrigation systems, which adversely affected crop water availability and placed downward pressure on yields.
The company said it was progressing work on alternative energy solutions, including solar, but full implementation will require further capital investment.
“We continue to pursue solar solutions as an alternative power source. The company is in the process of replacing electricity-powered geysers with solar-powered ones as part of its efforts to use green energy and reduce reliance on grid power.
“Since 2021, 104 solar geysers have been installed at Hippo Valley Estates. A total of 22X3Kva solar systems were installed in section offices across Hippo Valley Estates to reduce the operations’ reliance on grid power.
“These 22 solar systems will generate a combined 224–300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day and a combined annual average of 96,360kWh,” added the company.
Hippo Valley said the national grid heavily relied on coal-based plants, resulting in a high carbon emission level.
The company, however, endeavours to significantly contribute its surplus electricity to the national grid where feasible, thereby lessening the reliance on thermal power sources and advancing sustainability initiatives.
The company said it continues to adopt strategic innovations to enhance business performance with priorities centred on increasing sugar production, expanding the revenue portfolio, containing costs and generating positive cash flows.
Going forward, Hippo Valley intends to invest in improving the company’s water conveyancing system, chiefly drip and centre-pivot irrigation, mechanised harvesting and precision farming.
Total cane production is expected to be around 1,6 million tonnes in 2026.
The company has a presence in the local market and they are also trading regionally in Africa and as far as the United States of America (USA) and European markets.