Gov�t invests P2.4bn in North West power project

Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday November 14, 2017 18:00

Power to the people: BPC, government and contractors at a signing ceremony for the North West power project held in Gaborone recently PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

Addressing the media recently, the Corporation’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dr. Stefan Schwarzfischer said the construction of the North West Transmission Grid (NWTG) would play an economic role in exporting power from Botswana to the SADC region through Southern African Power Pool market.

“The completion of the project will open opportunity to reduce dependency on power imports from Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia as we shall have our own infrastructure to meet the local demand for electricity,” Schwarzfischer said at the signing ceremony between BPC and the contractors.

The project will be implemented in two phases and creating employment for 2,100 people in each phase during the period of construction with about 81% being locals.

“We have projected about 5,000 to 8,000 permanent jobs in various sectors of the economy once the project has been completed and business operations grown and established in the North Western Districts of the country,” he said.

The construction and commissioning of the first phase of the NWTG would be carried out amongst three contractors; Kalpataru (PTY) Ltd, Consolidated Power Projects (Pty) Ltd and Larsen & Tourbo Limited. The CEO said they engaged the international companies because local ones are limited in terms of skills and experience in high voltage material and infrastructure.

He however assured that these companies have been thoroughly evaluated according to BPC and Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board procurement standards, adding that they are satisfied that they will deliver on the expectations of the project given the wealth of skills, technical competencies and tangible evidence of their previous works.

The first phase of the NWTG, which is expected to commence in January next year and run through to December 2019, has been divided into nine stages and each contractor will construct and commission three of the nine stages. It would include the construction of a 400000V backbone transmission line from Morupule B to Maun through Orapa, two 499kV substations and 132 kV line and substations connecting Maun to Shakawe and Gantsi.

According to the CEO, this was a conscious decision made by the Corporation in order to balance capacity and ensure efficient implementation of the project.

The second phase, which will be implemented from August next year and expected to be completed in October 2020, will see the extension of the 400kV grid from Phokoje.

“We are currently evaluating the tenders as we have already received for the second phase of the NWTG project and we should conclude the process by January 2018,” he said.

Schwarzfischer said the NWTG would provide grid access to all sectors of the economy including mining, tourism, commercial and domestic. It will further improve the quality of electricity and reliability of supply in the country, most importantly in the North Western districts, thereby positioning the area as a lucrative investment zone for different economic players. Further he said the Corporation will be increasing its human resource including training of staff over the next two years to cater for operation and maintenance of extended grid to ensure reliable power supply when the project gets into the operational phase by end of 2019.

Khoemacau Copper Mining also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be the first customer for the NWTG. As per the agreement, effective February 20, 2018, the Corporation would provide approximately 30MW to the copper mine, which would help the mine meet its expectations of creating employment for 900 people.