Four bidders race to convert Orapa power station

Under the Expressions of Interest tender opened this week, one of the four bidders could supply the Orapa power station with natural gas on a trial basis, as a means of testing the plant’s conversion.

At present, Orapa, an emergency plant for periodic shortages, consumes 17, 000 litres of diesel per hour at its two turbines. The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) often runs the plant at its full 10-hour cycle due to perennial electricity shortages and the station is among the drivers of the utility’s annual multi-billion Pula subsidies.