P3 billion to plug the power supply/demand gap

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Friday November 12, 2010 00:00

 

Presenting the State of the Nation Address to the Second Session of the 10th Parliament, President Ian Khama said the various emergency energy supply interventions will cost Government more than P3 billion over the next three years.

'This considerable outlay is justified by the fact that doing nothing would cost our economy much more,' he said. In a bid to plug the power supply/demand gap until when the new 600MW Morupule B Power Station is operational, the government has funded construction of two diesel power stations. 

The two - one in Orapa, the other at Matshelagabedi - which will together generate 160MW from a diesel consumption rate of 292 ,000 litres and 50,000 litres respectively for a maximum of eight hours a day that the power peaking plants will run for.

An additional 180 MW power station, which will run on coal-bed methane, is to be developed at Mmashoro.Although the government estimates of that the power peaking plants will cost P3 billion, a recent World Bank report suggests that the real figure could be nearly 10 times more due to the high amount of diesel the plants will consume.

According to the World Bank, these plants will cost Government US$4 billion (P28 billion), which is almost three times more than the P11 billion for Morupule B Power Station that will generate 600MW by the end of 2012.

The 70MW power plant at Matshelagabedi will consume around 50, 000 litres of diesel a day while the US$37 million Orapa turbines are expected to consume 17, 000 litres per hour per unit.

The Orapa Power Station should ease shortages by removing Debswana mines, which consume 85MW, from the national grid and provide an extra 5MW for consumption by other users.

Turning to electricity accessibility and availability for all, Khama said as of July this year, 59 percent of all households were connected to the national grid.

'One of the barriers to connection over the years has been inability of customers to afford the cost of connection,' the President said. 'To address this, Government introduced the Rural Electrification Collective Scheme, which allows villagers to pay their connection costs over a period of up to 180 months.

'To-date this scheme has benefited 135 thousand households. Wiring costs for low-income households are also being addressed through low-cost installations, such as the ready-box that allows customers to connect basic electrical appliances.'

Khama also said as of September 2010, the National Electrification Fund, which was established in April, had already accumulated P76 million against a set target of P75 million.

The National Electrification Fund, which is financed by a levy on electricity consumption of five thebe per kilowatt-hour, was established to ensure the sustainability of rural electrification.

To further mitigate the high costs associated with electricity connections, the government began a phased introduction of a basic P5, 000 National Electricity Standard Connection fee, which is scheduled to reach all areas by October 2011.

 In the first phase, which began on October 1, 2010, a total of 337 villages are targeted for this fee. It has already attracted over 1, 000 customers.