31 Mar 2025

Government is working on alleviating the power crisis the country is currently experiencing owing to low domestic electricity supply as well as the challenges of imported power sources from the Southern Africa region.

This was revealed today by Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Bogolo Kenewendo in a statement to brief Parliament regarding power supply challenges and measures to improve the situation.

Acknowledging that the country is currently undergoing a power crisis, Ms Kenewendo said government was investing in short term solutions to assist the national electricity utility Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) to manage the situation, as well as longer term interventions for the country to become more self-sufficient in energy provision.

She revealed that government was making progress towards a sustainable energy mix, to ensure adequate and regular power supply to the national economy in addition to making Botswana a net exporter of electricity.

Ms Kenewendo acknowledged that the current electricity challenges would take some time to be addressed through remedial works on Morupule B defects, which would be completed in late 2027; while the envisaged sustainable energy mix could be achieved by 2030.

She disclosed an 18-24 months plan aimed to secure a 615 MW coal fired power station. She added that the development of a 600 MW power station at Mmamabula had commenced and would provide new capacity by 2027.

In addition, utility scale solar projects at Mmadinare and Jwaneng as well as smaller scale ones at Bobonong and Shakawe were being pursued.

Ms Kenewendo said the current power crisis caused by several factors such as the failure of the country’s largest coal fired power station Morupule B to perform optimally, an increase in the cost of importing electricity from South Africa, and the stressed financial position of BPC.

The financial challenges of BPC and its inability to meet its liabilities and the supply shortfall has forced the power corporation to introduce load shedding since March 22 to prevent total collapse, Ms Kenewendo said.

She said Botswana currently has two main sources of domestic electricity supply, Morupule A commissioned in 1986 was anticipated to have a life span of 25 years then and refurbished in 2016 to 2020 and only met 10 percent of the country’s supply demand as well as Morupule B.

Constructed by a Chinese company commissioned by BPC in 2012 at a cost of P10.5 billion, the Morupule B 600 MW coal fired power station has had an erratic performance since its commissioning in 2012-13 due to substandard construction, with noncompliance to specifications, power workmanship and equipment material defects, Ms Kenewendo said.

Moreover, she noted that BPC has experienced sever liquidity challenges owing to high unit cost of power imports, which she said had increased by 166 percent.

“Local generation contributes up to 65 percent of the country’s electricity demand, therefore 35 percent of the electricity demand is met through power imports. The scenario will continue to prevail until the completion of the Morupule B defects remediation project, which is expected to be accomplished at the end of 2027,” Ms Kenewendo said.

She revealed that government would continue to support BPC through the provision of resources to secure power imports, as well as to put in place a rescue plan and debt restructuring for the BPC, which would include adjustment of tariffs in the short to medium term, renegotiating with South African power utility Eskom as well as diplomatic engagement with Morupule B creditors.

In the short term, BPC will operate two diesel generation plants, Orapa 90 MW Turbine Power Plant and Matshelagabedi 70 MW Diesel Plant, two high cost facilities only dispatched under grid emergencies, Ms Kenewendo stated.

She said government remained committed to the provision of affordable electricity and to a diversification of energy supply, including the use of renewable energy sources that the country is investing on. ENDS