BPC expects 20, 000 new connections after ambitious project

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Tuesday October 26, 2010 00:00

 

Speaking at an occasion to mark the final commissioning ceremony for the 100 Villages Electrification Project, an elated Kedikilwe said: 'To this end, the government is working on securing an additional 300MW.'

He said short and medium term measures to address the shortfall include a 70MW emergency power diesel plant which came into operation in January and a 90MW dual fuel facility at Orapa that is expected to be operational by December this year.

'Furthermore, the government continues to explore ways and means of increasing the use of renewable energy to diversify energy sources and consequently improve security supply,' Kedikilwe said. 'The possibility of a 200MW solar thermal power station is being explored and private sector involvement is encouraged.'

This will augment the government efforts in closing the power supply and demand mismatch, 'let alone the reduction of green house gas emissions'.

In addition, Kedikilwe said his ministry, through the renewable energy-based rural electrification for Botswana (RE-Botswana), is committed to giving Batswana a choice between renewable energy technologies and Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) grid electricity.

'In areas where it is not economically viable for the BPC grid to be extended to, it would be advisable to use or opt for RE technologies,' he pointed out. Kedikilwe took the opportunity to appeal to the villagers never to vandalise the infrastructure saying it's expensive for vandalised equipment to be replaced.

'It will be remiss of me to fail to impress electricity consumers to inculcate the discipline to use electricity more efficiently and to police any vandalism of infrastructure,' he said, adding that replacement cost of vandalised equipment is approximately P2.5 million a year.

Kedikilwe commended Eltel Networks, the main contractor in the 100 villages project, for giving back to Batswana by connecting for free a clinic and a tribal office in each of the villages they electrified.

'The commissioning marks yet another milestone in the continued and successful cooperation and collaboration between the Governments of Sweden and Botswana,' he said, thanking the Swedish government for its contribution in past, current and future projects in Botswana. Speaking at the same occasion, the president of Eltel Networks, Martin Dahlgren, described electricity as a basic human right. 'Many of us take electricity for granted but it's always available to make our lives even easier,' observed Dahlgren. He said during the life of the 100 Rural Villages Electrification Project, they experienced many challenges. One of the problems is that Botswana is a wide country with the population concentrated in major villages, towns and cities.

But he was happy that during the project, Batswana benefited through skills transfer in the management of the project. All in all, he said, 1, 000 Batswana were employed on the project.

Another speaker was Gerry Winberg, an engineer from SWECO International, the main consultants in the project. Winberg described the project as 'unique'.

'This project was unique because it was completed on time,' he said. 'But I can tell you that we have not succeeded yet because our success will be registered when everyone of you is connected to the electricity grid.'

Winberg singled out three Batswana in particular whom he said will be able to carry out their duties diligently even after he has left. As a representative of the employer Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), the task was to ensure that everything was done according to contract specifications and that payments were done correctly.

'This is one of the largest rural electrification projects I have been involved in during my 30 years around the world and it's one of the few that kept both the timetable and the budget,' he said.

The CEO of BPC, Jacob Raleru, pointed out that when the project commenced, 'it appeared like a very big project because we had never done a project of its magnitude'. He was happy that during the project, there were no accidents or fatalities. 'If there were any accidents, that did not cause any loss of business time,' Raleru said.

He said the government found it fit to carry the project through while there were other equally competing priorities.At BPC, they expected about 20, 000 new customers to connect to the national grid after the project.

The Swedish Ambassador to Botswana, Peter Tejler, said his country's assistance to Botswana in this project did not mark the end of the journey but marked the beginning of good things to come in future.

Tejler said electricity connections would help school-going children to study hard and increase literacy rates in the long term. He said there was a possibility that with businesses set up in the electrified villages, there will be gainful employment and an increase in tourism-related activities.

'I am proud of the participation of Swedish companies in the 100 Villages Electrification Project,' said Tejler. 'I am also happy to point out that this was one of the projects delivered on time.' Tejler concluded: ' I take it that our engagement with the Botswana government will continue beyond this project. There is a P45 million to P50 million project on HIV/AIDS on the way.'