Renewable Energy Could Plug Power Shortages

Officially opening the International Conference on Clean Energy for Sustainable Growth in the  Developing Country recently, Bolele said government is promoting the use of renewable energy, especially solar to increase its share in the energy mix. “Botswana Power Corporation has installed a 1.3 MW grid connected photovoltaic power plant at Phakalane with the aid of the government of Japan. There was also a call recently for Expression of Interest to build two 50 MW solar power plants,” he said.

He added that the response to this call is huge and the Department of Energy is looking at the responses to shortlist the best proposals. He further said the national energy policy has been considered by Cabinet and will soon be presented to Parliament. “Once adopted the energy policy will pave way for the development of sectoral strategies which will guide energy planning and decision making in regard to the energy sector,” he added.