Morupule B crackles back to life
Brian Benza | Thursday October 23, 2014 15:41
Addressing the media in Gaborone last week BPC CEO Jacob Raleru pledged that at least three of the four units would be fixed by yesterday. It has however emerged that the two Chinese who jetted in from Beijing last week to fix the boiler leaks have only managed to fix only one unit.
“Yes, only one unit is now generating power. We hope to fix the rest of the units by the end of the month,” BPC spokesperson Spencer Moreri told BusinessWeek yesterday. Two units broke down in September while the other two failed early this month. Constructed by Chinese company CNEEC, the plant was supposed to be fully operational by October 2012 but has been plagued by regular boiler failures in the past two years leading to widespread power cuts.
CNEEC workers are still working on the plant under the two-year defect notification period, which, under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract, expires in June 2016.
With demand peaking at around 500 MW, South Africa’s Eskom with which Botswana has a contract for supply of up to 300MW, has so far met the country’s power demand. In the event of non-availability of surplus supply from the regional pool, BPC supplements supplies from the diesel powered Orapa and Matshelagabedi plants, which can produce upto 160 MW.