The World Bank issued a report that detailed why Botswana’s short-term energy strategy will be expensive, costing about $4 billion.
The southern African nation is currently working on a 90-MW dual-fuel facility to be located at Orapa using diesel initially and later switching to coal bed methane (CBM) gas. Scheduled to begin operations in August, the 90 MW Orapa project will take some time before it can rely upon CBM as Botswana ran into a roadblock recently with its coal supplier.
South Africa dominates the Botswana market, exporting more than 75% of its fuel requirement. Botswana’s fuel supplies from its neighbor were slashed at the end of May as a result of a strike at the Tarlton oil depot. Botswana began seeking alternative routes, mainly from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, to reduce the dependency on the single supply route through South Africa.
Botswana is currently conducting a feasibility study for a 200-MW solar thermal power station to combat the impact of load shedding. South Africa’s supplies to neighboring countries has been in flux since 2008, at which time Botswana developed a 70-MW emergency power supply in Matshelagabedi which started operating at the beginning of this year, according to the country’s Minerals, Energy, and Water Affairs Minister Pontashego Kedikilwe.
The World Bank said that the cost of bridging the energy deficit with its costly emergency option would rise about 5% annually of the projected GDP for the period from 2010-2013. The report said, “The cumulative cost of $4 billion can hardly be covered with fiscal resources particularly under the current adverse circumstances.”
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