Botswana’s road to a diversified energy portfolio

Baboki Kayawe | Monday April 7, 2025 12:48

Being off-grid was always a blessing in disguise for him, as he seized the opportunity to think differently. It allowed Joseph, who detests noise pollution from fuel-run generators, to take advantage of the sun. He bought photovoltaic (PV) solar panels as a greener option for powering his farm operations. The solar system has been pumping water from a 130-metre-deep borehole, with an additional two panels supplying electricity to the farmhouse for years now since production started at the farm.

This has had significant financial benefits to the smallholder farmer who supplies the grain to traditional cuisine vendors—known as bommaseapei in the vernacular. Throughout the years practicing rainfed cropping, yields have not been satisfactory, though there is a niche market given the high demand for millet – a staple food in the Central, North East, and North West districts in Botswana.

“There is visible direction that there will be positive outcomes in the long run as we scale up. “Installing a solar powered irrigation system points to high yields with high cost saving as well,” he said.

Joseph commended solar energy for promoting sustainable farming practices and presenting food security solutions.

The move has given Joseph control over energy production and consequently consumption because he no longer experiences traditional grid challenges like power cuts. Going green energy has brought along a sense of environmental stewardship, in a country heavily reliant on coal-fired electricity.

“I deeply feel that I am playing a huge part in saving the planet,” Joseph said.

He further suggested incentivising renewable energy use, to promote the transition to sustainable sources.

“People who use solar to generate power must be awarded for being environmentally friendly,” he said.

However, the theft of solar equipment remains a major setback, he said, noting that security was needed to safeguard the system.

“If people can steal in the city where there are alarms then you can imagine what the situation is like on farms where there is limited security,” he said.

Ebibere Clark, a visiting fellow with the African Policy and Research Institute, who specialises in capital markets, energy, and infrastructure sectors, climate action policy, and finance—commended Joseph and others like him for taking crucial steps toward energy independence.

“The major operating cost for fuel generators is the cost of fuel. Solar liberates the owner from ongoing fuel costs – which is important for us Africans affected by the international cost of fuel and our currencies,” he said.

In an email interview following a virtual session on the solar economy, Clark said energy independence unlocks endless possibilities for Joseph and thousands of other like-minded farmers, for instance, by eliminating majority of running costs in agriculture. He further said local solar entrepreneurs could be produced, calling that manifestation “a new and growing market to service, similar to mobile phone entrepreneurs.” Inevitably, the ripple effect extends to the general economy as the foreign currency required to import fuel is reduced.

“As the international price of an electric vehicle (from China) reduces towards the international price of a fuel-powered vehicle, the incentive to go electric increases. This is a similar dynamic with solar generation. As capital expenditure drops, African countries will switch,” he noted.

Botswana receives more than 3,200 hours of sunlight annually and averages 21 megajoules per square metre which is amongst the highest in the world. However, in 2020, the country generated just 0.26 percent of its electricity from solar, and it has only six megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity out of a total 890 MW energy capacity, with coal accounting for 99%, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the African Development Bank (ADB). In its Integrated Renewable Energy Plan – which was initially published at the end of 2020 and revised in 2022 – Botswana committed to having renewable energy make up at least 30% of its energy mix by 2030, and 50% by 2036.

During his maiden state of the nation address in November 2024, President Duma Boko said diversifying Botswana’s energy portfolio was critical to his administration’s transformative agenda, noting that “the potential of solar energy is abundant”. The transformative agenda, endeavours “to improve the lives of all citizens towards attaining amongst others inclusive high economic growth to yield sustainable development and peace for all,” Boko explained at the time.

President Boko, who ended the Botswana Democratic Party’s 58-year rule last October had in the past signalled that no new coal-fired plants were unlikely to be commissioned.

When presenting the 2025–2026 budget proposal, Finance minister Ndaba Gaolathe, who is also the Vice President, resonated the need to unlock the green economy, pivoted by a strategic shift towards a solar dominated industry. He called the transition “a critical aspect of the energy diversification drive”, alongside “modernisation of the power sector”. Ndaba outlined that the shift would include unbundling power generation, transmission, and related services—a move designed to enhance efficiency, competition, and investment in the sector.

The promise of a dominant solar energy sector falls in the backdrop of a heavy coal-reliant economy. Amidst the expressed political will toward cleaner energy sources, Botswana is currently constructing a 600 MW coal-fired plant – the Mmamabula Energy Project, which was commissioned by former president Mokgweetsi Masisi’s administration. The facility, expected to be operational by 2028, is earmarked to supply power to the rest of the southern African region. The coal endowed country has more than 200 billion tonnes of resources.

In the decarbonisation trail, Botswana is considering cutting down on its coal dependence. The country is currently seeking proposals for construction of 1.5GW of solar power generation, Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Kenewendo told Bloomberg recently.

Creation of local solar entrepreneurs as hinted by Clark is plausible. For instance, Member of Parliament for Maun North Dumelang Saleshando proposed that areas prone to conflicts between farmers and wildlife be targeted for such enterprises because land remains unutilised as communities have given up farming. Responding to Gaolathe’s budget presentation on the solar economy drive in February, he recommended that the national grid be opened up to allow these communities to self-generate power.

“Where power production infrastructure is near unutilised farms, let there be subsistence solar power production, let these farmers be paid so that they earn a living from power production,” he said.

In 2020, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) launched a net metering scheme, to allow citizens and companies to generate their own power and sell any excess back to the grid. However, the system is yet to be rolled out countrywide.

Currently, access to electricity stands at approximately 76%, with rural communities mostly left out of national grid: only 25% are within the power supply network. Addressing attendants of the SADC Sustainable Energy Week in February, assistant minister for State President, Maipelo Mophuting, said investment in off-solar grid was crucial for closing the energy gap and ensuring universal access to modern energy services.

“We will continue to prioritise and invest in off-grid renewable energy solutions to uplift our communities, enhance livelihoods and foster sustainable growth,” Mophuting said.

Concurring with Clark, she outlined some of the benefits of off-grid connectivity as enabling productive uses for irrigation, agro-processing, and small-scale industries. She further commended off-grid as being an immense contributor to economic growth, food security and poverty reduction in society.

“Off-grid connections empower local economies, create jobs, and support essential services such as healthcare and education, thereby driving sustainable development and improving livelihoods,” she said.

A local solar entrepreneur, Pelontle Maphula who is co-founder of Solar World Botswana, a renewable energy company that supplies and installs solar system for multi-purposes, said the vision for a solar economy is great. The solar economy enthusiast, whose baptism in the industry came from exposure to the Japanese solar landscape, said the energy revolution had prospects of economic diversification, including solutions for the regional energy situation.

“SADC has an electricity deficit, and the demand for electricity is expanding due to industrialisation across the region. Additionally, due to droughts the Kariba Dam water levels have affected production and there is extreme load shedding in Zambia and Zimbabwe,” she stated.

The solar entrepreneur noted gaps in the market, advising that the vision ought to be fast-tracked before it is taken up by neighbouring countries. Maphula recommended that “a clear and creative strategy of execution be drafted, as well as identification of aggressive key people to spearhead and push the agenda.”

She highlighted that necessary reforms were required in areas of regulatory frameworks, financial incentives which encompasses tax credits and rebates, net metering, feed-in tariffs, renewable energy standards, and investment tax credits—which essentially provide financial benefits to individuals and businesses who install solar panels, encouraging wider adoption of solar power generation.

The entrepreneur said lack of solar regulatory mechanisms had resulted in negative public perceptions as some malfunctioning solar systems are being sold with either “low quality or because there were no proper load assessments done before recommending the system”.

“People end up believing that solar just does not work,” she said.

To realise the diversified energy portfolio, Maphula recommended an upgrade of the transmission grid, adoption of a net metering initiative that allows for opening for more to be fed to the grid, negotiations to secure uptakes at regional level such as to Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well the financing of the transition through climate finance mechanisms.

“As solar entrepreneurs the kind of assistance that could aid the growth of the sub-sector includes our involvement in policy formulation,” she said. “Currently, power generation, transmission, and distribution are in the hands of one player and opening up the grid is crucial as well as availing finance instruments to allow more players to participate at all levels.” Maphula also observed there were few skills in the industry to drive this vision.

“We currently work with personnel who studied mechanical engineering and electrical engineering as there is no higher educational institution offering a dedicated renewable energy qualification,” she said.

A recent study from the Global Solar Council (GSC) report titled Africa Market Outlook for Solar PV 2025–2028, features South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Zambia, Angola, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and The Gambia as top 10 African solar markets in 2024. However, the 2025 outlook suggests diversification trends should be solidified.

“Botswana and Mauritius could support the growth by more than 100MW, due to various projects at the construction phase,” reads the report. Already, facilitators of the 120MW Mmadinare Solar Project recently the announced that 60MW of the first phase of the project commenced operations in March. The project was developed through a Power Purchase Agreement between Scatec ASA and the BPC. Moreover, Bobonong and Shakawe solar projects started operations in 2024, with production capacities of three megawatts and one megawatt respectively. The two were the first Independent Power Producer solar agreements executed in partnership with Sturdee Energy—a South African company.

Botswana’s energy demand is expected to rise from 600MW currently to around 800MW by 2028, whilst its power supply is forecast to grow from just over 500MW to more than 1,000MW.

Meanwhile, the GSC report points that “there is no shortage of excellent solar resources and political ambition in Africa—only a shortage of affordable capital,” said Léo Echard, policy officer at GSC and lead author of the report.

*Kayawe is a development communicator focused on science and climate journalism, energy sector, sustainable development, and nature-based solutions to climate change. She is currently pursuing an MPhil in Natural Resources Management and Development Communication with the Okavango Research Institute, that is dedicated to the study of wetlands and adjacent drylands. She is a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Youth Network.