Mr. Edward Zhu is a renewable energy entrepreneur with over 22 years of senior management experience across renewable energy, infrastructure, and telecommunications in the Middle East and Africa. He holds degrees in Applied Science and Business Administration, and earlier in his career held senior regional programme leadership roles within a large multinational group, with end-to-end responsibility for complex, multi-country project portfolios across more than 20 markets. Since 2019, Edward has focused on renewable energy development in Southern Africa as a project developer, independent power producer (IPP), and EPC contractor. He participated in the development of Zimbabwe’s then-largest utility-scale solar project, the 175MW Beitbridge Solar Plant, and led early deployments of containerised energy storage systems for agricultural and commercial users.
He has also played key roles in originating and delivering bank-financed renewable energy projects in Southern Africa, including projects supported by Standard Bank South Africa. His current work centres on 24/7 renewable power integrated with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), green methanol, and other green fuels, supporting energy security, industrialisation, job creation, skills development, and foreign currency generation across African economies.