The government of Botswana, through the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, has issued a call for expressions of interest from independent power producers (IPPs) for the development of two concentrated solar power (CSP) plants.
The facilities will be in Maun, a town in the North-West of Botswana, and Letlhakane in the Central District. According to the tender documents, the facilities must each have power generation capacity of 100 MW. Electricity generated by the facilities will be sold to the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) via a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
The tender is open until the 11th of April 2022 and selected companies will be responsible for developing, financing, building, owning and operating the CSP plants. The projects should be completed by 2027, according to the tender documents.
Botswana boasts having an abundance of solar energy resources and plenty of land for renewable energy projects. The country’s solar energy resources are ranked as some of the best in the world. Estimates by London-based non-profit Carbon Tracker, shows that Botswana has 5,000 times more renewable energy (RE) resources than it needs to power its population.
CSP projects to help Botswana to reduce reliance on Eskom
The Southern African country heavily relies on South Africa’s state owned utility Eskom for its energy supplies. Eskom is currently facing power generation challenges with South Africa itself having to endure constant power blackouts. The development of renewable energy projects in Botswana is set to help the country reduce reliance on embattled South African power utility Eskom to meet its electricity needs.
In addition to the CSP plants tender, the government of Botswana in January launched tenders for procurement of six solar power plants. The country is hoping to meet its electricity demand from its solar energy and export the excess to the neighbouring countries in the Southern African region through the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
CSP power will also help diversify Botswana’s energy mix. Only 6% of the country’s 600 megawatts of peak electricity demand is supplied by renewable energy sources. The country targets to have renewables constitute 36% of its energy mix by 2036.
