Norway firm scoops Phikwe solar deal
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday September 5, 2022 06:00
Part of the Power Purchase Agreement signed between the Oslo-based group and the Botswana Power Corporation on Wednesday requires that 40% of shares in the company established for the project be awarded to citizens.
Scatec is one of the world’s biggest solar and renewable energy developers, with large scale projects that include a R16 billion plant in South Africa due to have a capacity of 540MW. In Africa, the group also has projects in Lesotho, Egypt, Uganda, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tunisia.
Botswana Power Corporation CEO, David Kgoboko said the plant was due to be operational by the end of June 2024, while the agreement with Scatec would cover 25 years.
"This plant will contribute to the security of our energy supply, help us to decarbonise and also boost our net exports to the region," Kgoboko said at the signing ceremony.
“In line with our commitment to support government efforts at citizen economic empowerment the project has a local content plan to be met by Scatec which states that a citizen company should have at least 40% shareholding in the project company.”
Mmegi is informed that Scatec registered its 100% owned project company, Selebi Phikwe Solar Pty Ltd this week, as part of the terms of the power purchase agreement. The company will finance, develop and operate the solar power station, with the BPC purchasing the generation. The citizen shareholding will be in Selebi Phikwe Solar but details are as yet unclear how the partnering company will be selected.
Kgoboko said in addition, the deal with Scatec details the minimum thresholds for citizen procurement and involvement in operation of the plant.
The 50MW represents about 14% of Botswana off-peak consumption of about 365MW. The country's power demand peaks at about 600MW and is currently powered completely by fossil fuels with the exception of a 1.3MW solar plant set up on 2012 and funded by the Japanese government as a trial for renewables in the country.
The plant will be built between Selebi Phikwe and Mmadinare, and the generation is part of 100MW photovoltaic power government plans to procure from independent power producers in the next few years under the 20-year Integrated Resource Plan.
Mmegi is informed that a similar tender for a 50MW plant in Jwaneng is currently being retendered and due to be finalised soon. BPC officials said the first round of tenders did not identify a suitable bidder and as a result, the process had to be restarted.
Prequalification and short-listing for the Jwaneng contract has been done and the Corporation is reportedly moving to a detailed Request for Proposals, before identifying the investor for the plant.