Botswana will build a 200MW CSP project, procurement will start soon

According to foreign media sources, Botswana’s 20-year (2020-2040) Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) announced on December 15, 2020 shows that the country plans to build a 200MW CSP project by 2026 . It is reported that the procurement work for the project will begin this year.

Botswana is a landlocked sub-Saharan country bordering South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. According to the general idea of the plan, the government has approved an additional 1.5GW of power installed capacity by 2040, and the first step is to build a 135MW photovoltaic project by 2022.

According to the plan, Botswana will build a new 800MW photovoltaic power generation project, a 200MW solar thermal power generation project, a 50MW wind power generation project, a 140MW battery energy storage project, a 300MW coal-fired power generation project and a 250MW coalbed methane power generation project.

It is reported that the specific technical route of the above-mentioned proposed solar thermal power generation project may be determined according to the storage demand.

The dramatic drop in the cost of solar power generation in recent years has also greatly encouraged the Botswana government to plan more renewable energy projects when developing the IRP. Until now, the country has relied heavily on coal-fired power generation and imported energy.

Botswana's Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security said in a statement that the new IRP scheme will provide more competitive, cost-effective and sustainable electricity prices for industry, services and the country's residents.

In terms of resource conditions, Botswana is very suitable for the construction of CSP projects. First of all, the country has a large area of low-cost land, and secondly, its effectively recorded direct solar radiation value (DNI) exceeds 2,200 kWh/year, which is close to Morocco, the booming North African CSP emerging market, and South Africa, located in the south of the country. A 500MW CSP project has been installed.

According to the feasibility study of solar thermal power generation carried out before, the proposed solar thermal power generation project in Botswana in the future will be located in the copper mining area and the Jwaneng diamond mining area in the northwest of the country.

Figure: The levelized cost of global solar and wind energy (data from the IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency's "Renewable Energy Generation Costs 2019" report)

In 2019, the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Energy proposed a massive solar development plan in Botswana and neighbouring Namibia that could provide more than 4.5% of energy to customers in eastern and southern Africa. GW of photovoltaic and CSP projects.

The plan is supported by government officials in Botswana and Namibia, as well as the World Bank, and proposes to be implemented in the following stages:

The first phase of the project will build 300 to 500MW of photovoltaic and solar thermal installations in both countries to meet domestic electricity demand.

The second phase of the project adds 500MW-1GW of installed solar capacity to supply electricity markets in neighboring countries.

The third phase of the project will build a solar power park with an installed capacity of 1GW-3GW to supply electricity to large areas in southern and eastern Africa.

This solar hybrid power project with a total installed capacity of about 5GW will not only help the two countries to diversify their energy mix, but will also help export electricity to neighboring countries.