The energy crisis gripping SADC, including Botswana, is exacerbated by sluggish generation, growing populations and heightened industrialisation.

The DEA believes a solar power station and other renewable energy initiatives currently under investigation could provide relief, particularly to the mining sector whose continued productivity is threatened by the power crisis.

DEA officials recently revealed that a pre-feasibility study was ongoing for a 200-MW solar power station and that should it prove viable, efforts would be made to actualise the project. It is expected that the pre-feasibility study will be complete by December, paving the way for a full feasibility study.

If the project is undertaken, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) may play a role in the development of the plant. One such producer has already expressed interest in developing a 50-MW power station.

The DEA's Principal Energy Engineer, Thuso Matshameko, says the solar power station is one of several renewable energy options under consideration for alleviating the current power supply crisis.

"The way we have structured it is that it will be in the form of 4 x 50-MW units," Matshameko says. "Judging by whether one unit is feasible, we can add more until we get to 200 MW. By December, we will know whether we can go to feasibility stage. Already a company has said it can put up a 50-MW project; this may be the starting point for more companies come on board."

If approved, the solar power station would take advantage of one of Botswana's most abundant but under-utilised natural resources - sunlight. Experts estimate that Botswana receives 3 200 hours of sunshine each year or 21 millijoules per square metre per day.
In the past, several projects have attempted to harness solar energy as a viable form of electricity but DEA experts admit that most of these projects have failed. Solar power projects currently underway include the Botswana Power Corporation's (BPC) massive rural electrification which is aimed at more than 5 100 households.

Matshameko explains: "We have tried many projects like the Manyana PV Pilot Project. At the moment, we have not achieved very much in terms of solar uptake, but there are other projects in progress.

"The problem is that solar projects have very high start-up costs. There is also the problem of low quality work done in previous projects. We have to work hard to turn around the mind-set of people about the poor quality work done in the past."

Some of the negative perceptions about solar power spin from the way consumers have used it. The Director of BPC's Rural Business Unit, Alban Motsepe, agrees: "When you go in with 50 MW and tell consumers what it can support them, once you go away, they put all sorts of appliances on the system, and it fails," Motsepe says.

"They expect that as with the national grid, you should be able to increase the number of appliances over time without a problem. Hence, we have now made consumer awareness a priority in order to help people have more realistic expectations."

Another renewable energy source available for Botswana is biomass, a domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engines derived from natural oils like soybean oil. Matshameko says plans are underway for a 50-million litre per annum biodiesel plant that will require between 44 000 and 87 000 hectares of land and cost up to P150 million.

Land for the plant is yet to be identified. "We also need to buy seedlings so that in a few years' time, we can start harvesting," Metshameko says.