09 Nov 2020

Anguish of power shortage and outages will soon be a thing of the past as government commits to meet the national demand through the newly approved integrated resource plan.

In a State Of  the Nation Address on November 9, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said government would implement such projects, particularly a 100 megawatts power plant, in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. 

President Masisi said the 100 megawatts power plant was being procured and the tender would be awarded in the first quarter of 2021 while the commercial operation would start in the third quarter of 2022.  

Power plant sites, he said, were at Selebi Phikwe and Jwaneng each at 50 megawatts. 

Another clean technology project is a 12-grid tiered photovoltaic plant with a total of 35 megawatts, which is expected by 2022. 

The project tender award is scheduled for the fourth quarter this fiscal year while its commercial operation will start in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The projects will be at Kasane, Molepolole, Tutume, Ghanzi, Tsabong, Maun, Serowe, Bobonong, Shakawe, Lobatse, Mamuno and Kang. 

President Masisi said government would also implement a 10-megawatt Coal Bed Methane by 2025 and the project was currently undergoing procurement process. 

Also, Dr Masisi said procurement for 200-megawatt Concentrated Solar Plant was scheduled to commence next year and expected to be completed in 2026. 

Another project is a 100- megawatt solar photovoltaic  plant, which is expected to commence in 2025 and be completed by 2027. 

President Masisi emphasised that environmental sustainability was one of the key requirements for realising sustainable development, hence crucial to streamline environmental management in the development processes. 

He also indicated that government had also completed a draft Climate Change and Response Policy, which aimed at managing climate change effects as well as facilitate effective adaptation and mitigation plans.

Implementation of climate change response measures, he said, would result in targeted subsidies for clean technologies including renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate smart agriculture, adding that the draft policy would be considered in the ongoing Parliament sitting. 

President Masisi also said to facilitate the ease of doing business, government had amended Environmental Assessment Act, which had culminated in reducing the turnaround time for reviewing Environment Impact Assessment project documents from six to three months. 

Again, President Masisi highlighted government’s commitment to undertaking organisational reforms to align itself with the National Vision 2036 Pillar of Sustainable Environment in order to ensure that Batswana were energy secure with diversified, safe and clean sources and a net energy exporter. 

Furthermore, he indicated that government had developed Solar Roof Top Guidelines to enable Batswana to generate electricity from the sun for their own use, while selling excess energy to Botswana Power Corporation. 

He said nationwide programme was being piloted in five areas around Gaborone at the Okavango Diamond Company, Bank of Botswana, Airport Junction Mall, Diamond Trading Company Botswana and Botho College.

The programme is limited to system-wide aggregate capacity of 10 megawatts for its first 12 months, out of which two megawatts would be reserved for domestic consumers while the rest would be for commercial use. 

“These trials will provide government with reliable data to inform policy direction,” President Masisi said. Ends