A team that designs, builds and runs every station
Directors, a finance manager, accounting staff and four BSc-qualified engineers — supported by a permanent core of skilled artisans and the communities where we build.
The board
Decades of engineering and operating experience across hydro, solar and heavy electrical works.
Oloff Smyth
CEO & Co-Founder
BSc (Elec Eng), MIET, MZwIE, PrEng
An electrical engineer with 45 years' experience in heavy and light electrical engineering across Zimbabwe and the region. Oloff co-founded Solar Energy Projects in 2010, consulted on 25 MW of mini-hydro in the Honde Valley, then founded Penhalonga Energy to develop the smaller sites others overlooked. He prospects, designs and manages the projects across electrical, mechanical and civil disciplines.
Sebastian Smyth
Director & Co-Founder
Dip. Electro-Tech (Renewable Energy), TAFE Perth
Managing Director of Solar Energy Projects and co-founder of Penhalonga Energy. Sebastian designs SEP's larger PV installations and built the company into one of Zimbabwe's leading commercial solar suppliers — the business whose success funded Penhalonga Energy's first stations.
Joshua Smyth
Director — Operations
Operations, SEP & Penhalonga Energy
Joshua returned to Zimbabwe after several years in the UK and quickly became invaluable across the group's rapidly expanding renewable operations. With an innate grasp of the physics of energy generation, he is understudying Oloff on Penhalonga Energy's technical operations to ensure succession.
Tendai Munyoro
Director — Rusitu Power Corporation
Former Board Member, MMZ
Tendai leads the Nyahode-river hydro joint venture between Penhalonga Energy and Rusitu Power Corporation, and is instrumental in plans to resuscitate the RPC hydro and develop the 4 MW site immediately downstream.
Finance & delivery
The people keeping projects funded, compliant and delivered on time.
Simbarashe Chinomona
Finance Manager
ACCA (UK), RPAcc (Z)
A chartered certified accountant who has secured order financing and driven Penhalonga Energy's progress toward Prescribed Asset Status. Previously raised finance at the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and led work on its partial privatisation.
Nicolae Mutinhima
Project Manager
BEng Fuels & Energy Engineering
Project manager for both Solar Energy Projects and Penhalonga Energy, with deep experience delivering large-scale installations for partners including UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, the British Embassy and Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health.
Construction team
A permanent core of artisans led by a senior foreman/surveyor — directing builders, stone masons, carpenters, welders and heavy-equipment operators, plus up to 70 contract workers drawn from the communities where each project is built.
Building the eastern grid, one river at a time.
Whether you're an investor, a landowner with a river, or an industrial buyer seeking firm renewable power — we'd like to talk.