Boko to launch country’s largest renewable energy project

MBONGENI MGUNI | Tuesday April 14, 2026 15:27

As reported by Mmegi a fortnight ago, Omani green energy firm, Naqaa Sustainable Energy LLC, has been awarded the contract to design, finance, build, own, operate, maintain and decommission the 500MW plant over a period of 25 years. The envisaged solar power plant will feature the country’s first utility scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which will allow for the storage of electricity and its strategic dispersal into the grid.

Naqaa Sustainable Energy is a subsidiary of O-Green which in turn is backed by the Oman Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund with assets above $53 billion.

A notice from the Botswana Power Corporation indicates that Boko will preside over the groundbreaking on Thursday morning in Maun.

The President is scheduled to return from the Middle East nation later today after a two-day working visit, during which he signed three deals, including the activation of the 500MW solar plant.

Announcing the deal last year, Boko said the move was part of government’s efforts to reshape the country’s energy landscape and reduce reliance on imported electricity.

“This initiative will significantly reduce the cost of electricity production,” he told Parliament. “As a result, electricity prices for consumers will go down, the base-load grid will be stabilised, and government subsidies to the Botswana Power Corporation will no longer be necessary.”

Other deals signed in Muscat, Oman include the development of petroleum storage facilities for Botswana as well as joint exploration of mineral resources towards the development of mines in the country.

However, it is the Maun project that has raised excitement, given its scale and the structure of the arrangements. The structure of the contract with Naqaa suggests that the developer will bear the funding and other risks associated with the project, while the Botswana Power Corporation or any other buyer will be required to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement for offtake.

The scale of the planned power plant can be seen in the fact that to date, installed grid-connected solar capacity in commercial operation in the country amounts to 104MW or 21 percent of the effective installed generation mix.

Minerals and Energy minister, Bogolo Kenewendo, recently said government wants renewable energy to constitute 42 percent of installed capacity in the 2026-27 financial year.

Botswana’s current peak demand is about 700MW with an average growth rate of five percent per annum, driven by population growth, mining activity and expanded household electrification.

The numbers indicate that together with other projects ongoing around the country, the Maun plant will help Botswana become a net exporter of electricity into the region, where demand continues to increase.

Meanwhile, Omani media reported that Boko toured the United Solar Polysilicon Manufacturing Facility and Orion Solar Project in Oman earlier today. Both facilities specialise in the production of solar cells and photovoltaic panels.

Boko was accompanied by Abdulsalam bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, chairman of the Oman Investment Authority, and other senior officials.