BOTSWANA APPROVES PLAN FOR HUGE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS

Unveiled on Monday, the newly approved Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) shows that government plans to develop or procure 1,540MW of new generation between now and 2040. Of that amount, 1,240MW will be from renewable energy projects.

“The IRP meets the country’s growing energy demand at least cost while also reducing the country’s carbon footprint,” said Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security deputy permanent secretary Nchena Mothebe in a statement.
At present, most of Botswana’s peak demand of 600MW is sourced from coal generation both locally and from Eskom imports.
Major projects in the Integrated Resource Plan include a 100MW Coal Bed Methane plant due by 2025 and up to 735MW of solar photovoltaic plants due between 2022 and 2027.

The plan also includes up to 140MW of large scale battery storage for which procurement will start in 2029.

Source: mmegi.bw