HARARE, Jul. 14 (NewsDay Live) — Fidelity Life Assurance says it is rolling out Zimbabwe’s first large-scale residential piped gas project at its Southview Fidelity Park housing development, supplying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) directly to more than 4,000 homes through an underground distribution network.
The pilot project, being implemented by Southview Energy Company, marks a significant step in the country’s residential energy infrastructure as demand grows for cleaner and more reliable household energy.
Southview Energy projects director Weddie Makomichi said the system is designed to deliver LPG to homes through a centralized underground reticulation network, operating in a similar manner to water and electricity utilities.
“The Southview piped gas project is a modern, centralized underground liquefied petroleum gas reticulation network designed to deliver clean, safe and continuous energy directly to thousands of residential homes,” Makomichi said.
He said the system would eliminate the need for households to transport and refill gas cylinders while addressing rising demand for affordable and reliable cooking energy.
The first phase is expected to connect about 1,770 households by January next year, with the remaining homes scheduled to be connected by the end of 2027.
Makomichi described the development as the first large-scale residential piped LPG utility in Zimbabwe and among the largest of its kind in the Southern African Development Community region.
He said the project would create jobs during construction and operation, improve access to clean energy through a utility-based billing model and help diversify Zimbabwe’s energy mix by reducing reliance on the national electricity grid for cooking and water heating.
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The company also expects environmental benefits through reduced dependence on firewood and charcoal, alongside improved indoor air quality.
Makomichi said the underground distribution network has been designed to meet international engineering standards and Zimbabwean regulatory requirements. The low-pressure system will incorporate underground storage tanks and pipelines, smart sensors, telemetry, automatic shut-off mechanisms and smart meters to monitor consumption and support billing.
Zimbabwe has increasingly turned to LPG as households and businesses seek alternatives to unreliable electricity supplies and traditional biomass fuels. If successful, the Southview Fidelity Park project could provide a blueprint for similar residential developments across the country and the wider region.
