Botswana 'to be power exporter by 2018'
Blessed with an abundance of renewable energy sources and buoyed by an overwhelming response from the private sector to government’s ambitions to grow the sector, Botswana, a net importer of electricity today, has set its sights on becoming a regional powerhouse and major exporter in the next few years.
The diamond-rich nation, which counts Israel among willing partners, has not been spared the crippling power challenges which have engulfed many countries on the continent.
An upbeat Minister of Energy, Minerals and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila, said President Ian Khama’s government was “leaving no stone unturned” in its bid to become a net supplier of the scarce commodity in the near future.
“I am 100 percent sure that we will be a main exporter of power by 2018,” Mokaila assured mining executives at a base metals beneficiation forum in Francistown, Botswana’s second largest city situated 430km north of the capital, Gaborone.
The national power utility, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), produces 470MW at its coal-fired Morupule B Power Plant situated at Palapye in the central part of the country. Botswana’s national power demand currently stands at an average of 550MW in summer and between 610MW and 620MW in winter, according to the minister.
“At the moment, we are importing just between 80MW and 150MW from neighbouring South Africa’s Eskom,” Mokaila said in an interview on the sidelines of the base metals beneficiation forum. The minister projected that this would be a thing of the past beginning 2018.
Botswana, which has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country, is expecting to produce an additional 2,000MW in phases between now and 2018, said Mokaila. He said they were finalising the awarding of a tender to the preferred bidder to construct two more units at Morupule B plant to generate at least 300MW.
“We are also going to tap into renewable energy in order to position ourselves as a net exporter of electricity,” said Mokaila. The country has embarked on an ambitious plan to generate electricity from gas and solar, natural resources that it has in abundance. The country receives more than 3,200 hours of sunshine per year, with an average insulation on a horizontal surface of 21 millijoules per square metre, one of the highest rates of insulation in the world.
Botswana Chamber of Mines chief executive officer Charles Siwawa said the landlocked country had a massive abundance and potential to produce electricity from gas and solar.
“Besides making the country an exporter, this will go a long way in ensuring that Botswana has enough power supply to run its mining houses scattered across the breadth and length of the country,” said Siwawa.
An equally upbeat BPC spokesperson Spencer Moreri said there had been an encouraging response from investors who were willing to help government deliver on its targets.
“The government is not expected to spend much money because there are a number of organisations that have shown interest in partnering with the administration,” said Moreri.
According to him, a total of 118 prospective companies had applied to be considered as partners in the generation of power through renewable sources.
Botswana is also banking on a government-to-government agreement with Israel, the Middle Eastern country that is a key global player in the energy sector. The two countries are said to be close to a deal on the production of an additional 900MW of electricity through solar energy.
“There is power and light at the end of the tunnel,” said Mokaila. - ANA-CAJ
(File photo: Gallo Images)