BPC eyes 100MW solar plant in Jwaneng
Brian Benza | Tuesday April 29, 2014 12:48
A feasibility study carried by the African Development Bank (AFDB) estimates that it would costs P5 billion to set up the 100MW solar power station in Botswana.
Addressing delegates at the HATAB conference held in Kasane last week, Dennis Olaotse from the BPC Transmission Business Unit said that among the corporation’s plans for new power supply is the solar plant which is estimated to cost $592 million (P5 billion).
Apart from the P11 billion Morupule B, other plans include the 132MW from the Morupule A power plant which is currently under refurbishment as well as a further two Independently run 300MW greenfield and brownfield coal fired power plants.
According to Olaotse, the solar plant will not be base load but will run for 16 hours a day with four hours of thermal energy storage.
However, a decision is yet to be made on whether the Jwaneng project will be run by Independent Power Producers (IPP) or government will have a stake through a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
A pre-feasibility study in 2008 had identified Letlhakane, Jwaneng, Selebi-Phikwe, Serowe and Maun as receiving the most solar irradiation and fewest obstacles and therefore the most ideal sites for the pioneering solar power station.
The solar power station forms part of a range of initiatives to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and costly diesel-fired power stations. Despite Botswana’s abundant solar resources, government has been reluctant to implement the project due to its high costs.
The P5 billion that it will cost to build the 100MW plant is about half the amount spent on Morupule B power plant, which, at full generation, will produce six times as much electricity.
According to Olaotse, power from the solar station will attract tariffs as high as P2 per Kilowatt hour (KWH), double the 96 thebe that the coal-fired power costs.
Currently BPC says it is charging below costs tariffs leading to the corporation to losing about 50 thebe per every kwh (unit) sold to consumers. Minerals, Energy and Water Resources minister, Kitso Mokaila, recently told a Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) meeting that incentives for solar will only be considered when tariffs charged on coal produced electricity become cost-reflective.
“Government subsidises the power from coal and for renewable energy to come into play in the same manner, you need to pay a cost reflective tariff for the coal power,” he said. “If that does not happen, then it would be a significant burden for government to bear.
“Once we have cost-reflective tariffs, then the Botswana Power Corporation could be in a position to maintain and invest in terms of solar.” According to the new BPC turnaround strategy to be implemented by Irish consultants ESBI, tariffs will be regularlyy revised upwards in the next three years up to cost reflective levels by 2018.
While government’s stated policies are accommodative of renewable energy, including solar power, progress in development has been slow with authorities blaming funding constraints and the need to resolve the six-year-old electricity crisis.
A Tunisia-based official with the AFDB says, despite the prohibitive costs, it would be in Botswana’s interest to set up the solar power station as part of the country energy mix diversification as well as technology transfer plans.
“We are ready to finance the project as soon we receive a request from the government of Botswana for funding. But it’s very difficult for Botswana to commit to a project this costly due to the fact that the solar power will not be base load. This means you will only get power during the day and at night you will need alternative power sources. But the final costs will largely depend on the technology used including the storage capacities,” said Chief Renewable Energy Specialist at the AFDB, Youssef Arfaoui, in an interview with Mmegi Business.
The National Energy Policy, however, aims to have 25 percent of the country’s electricity met from renewable sources by 2030. At present, the country only has one operating solar facility, a 1.3MW station in Phakalane commissioned in 2012 through a US$12.7 million loan from Japan.