Page 9 - AfrElec Week 02 2022

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

SEFA to support Botswana’s

renewable energy transition

BOTSWANA THE Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) according to Power Africa, from the Morupule
is providing a $1mn grant to the government of B coal-fired plant.
Botswana to support the energy transition. The Faced with a demand of 550MW, the country
southern African country depends on its neigh- imports 150MW from South Africa. Botswana
bour South Africa for part of its electricity needs. has already begun its energy transition with the
The SEFA is a financing mechanism managed support of the private sector, notably the inde-
by the African Development Bank (AfDB) with pendent power producers (IPPs).
the objective of supporting private sector inter- This is the case of Sturdee Energy, which is
ventions in electricity access in Africa. developing the Bobonong and Shakawe solar
The SEFA grant will, according to the AfDB, projects for a capacity of 4 MWp.
contribute to the implementation of a technical Also, the southern African country has
assistance project focusing on the introduction entered into a partnership with neighbouring
of least-cost planning, reduction of adverse envi- Namibia for the construction of a 5,000 MWp
ronmental impacts and support for increased solar complex straddling the two countries.
private sector participation in renewable energy The project, considered feasible because of
generation investments. the potential of the two countries in terms of
The project will also produce a national grid solar radiation, has already received favourable
code, a study on the cost of electricity service, opinions from several financial partners, includ-
and a licensing framework to regulate electricity ing the AfDB.
sector activities. According to the pan-African financial insti-
According to the AfDB, its studies will ena- tution based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the grant
ble the implementation of Botswana’s first awarded by SEFA will support the initiative
Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), facilitating called “Mega Solar”, launched in 2021, with the
investment in new solar photovoltaic and wind aim of strengthening renewable energy capac-
power generation capacity to reach at least ities in both countries to enable the export of
100MW and 50MW respectively by 2030. electricity to other countries in the sub-region.™
Botswana has 450MW of installed capacity,

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