Morupule B phase II to cost P8bn
Gothataone Moeng | Thursday June 19, 2014 16:06
The second phase of Morupule B consists of the construction of units 5 and 6, which are expected to contribute 300MW to the national electricity supply.
This second phase of development is intended to help supply adequate electricity for the country by 2016, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) CEO Jacob Raleru told the Ntlo ya Dikgosi on Monday.
By the end of this month government is expected to announce the winner of the tender for the multi-billion Pula project to expand Morupule B.
Known as the 300 MW brownfield, the project consists of extending the existing power station by designing, financing, constructing, owning, operating and maintaining a 2 x 150MW coal fired power plant to be built at the pithead of Morupule Coal Mine.
The successful bidder will enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BPC outlining the tariff charge for power produced over the duration of the contract.
Apart from the refurbishment of Morupule A, government has also put in place plans for a Greenfield 300MW power plant.
Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) Kenneth Matambo revealed in his National Budget this year that the refurbishment of Morupule A, which has the maximum capacity to generate 132MW, will cost P1.4 billion.
The 25-year-old power station was placed on care and maintenance two years ago after plant availability dropped to below 30 percent due to aging components.
BPC’s own estimates indicate that Morupule A will contribute nearly 20 percent of the projected national electricity demand when it is fully returned to the grid in 2016.
Despite its age, two separate studies have indicated that Morupule A can be brought back to design level capacity through refurbishment of boilers, turbines, generators and other equipment. Once refurbished, the station could run for another 15 years at 80 percent plant availability.
Meanwhile, Raleru also told the Dikgosi that work at the beleaguered Morupule B power station is now complete, and that all four units are now finally working.
When working at its full capacity, Morupule B produces 600MW, and should adequately address the 590MW national peak demand.
Last week, the country experienced widespread power cuts as Eskom, which supplies Botswana with up to 300MW of power or over half of peak demand, cut supplies to Botswana.
In March, the South African power utility cut its supplies to Botswana down to zero as available generation plummeted in that country due to wet coal stockpiles.
Raleru also revealed that the power corporation last year lost P3million due to vandalism and fraudulent use of electricity.
He said the corporation has challenges addressing the vandalism and theft of copper cables because of the non-deterrent nature of penalties imposed on people caught stealing the cables and the inadequate enforcement capacity. He called for the review of such “enabling” legislation.