Business Botswana Study Calls for Restructuring of BPC

A study commissioned by Business Botswana has recommended restructuring of state-owned Botswana Power Corporation (BPC). The study was aimed at assessing the environment for Renewable Energy (RE) uptake in Botswana to mitigate the effects of climate change with the support of the Botswana Government and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). According to the study, the Ministry of Minerals and Energy “should restructure BPC to allow for independent generation, transmission and distribution”.[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="2,3,4,1" ihc_mb_template="3" ] It also recommends the setting up of an independent IPP (Independent Power Producer) office to oversee tendering, adjudication and awarding of Renewable Energy contracts. RE loans It calls on the government to introduce investment incentives to attract investment in RE. “The investments should also be protected by legislation just like Congress in the United States or the European Union enacts legislation to protect investments in RE,” the report says. To promote broad-based participation in the RE economy and increase uptake at household level, it says, the government, working with commercial banks, should establish government guaranteed RE loans and incentive schemes for citizen-owned small businesses, women and youth projects that should be supported by trade unions and Non-Governmental Organisations. The study recommends that the minerals ministry should develop implementation guidelines for the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) in order for Botswana to reach its ambitious goals of 15 to 30 percent RE in its energy mix by 2030 and 2036 respectively. It says public education in RE, as well as research, knowledge and systematic skills development initiatives are urgently required to ensure enhanced RE uptake and support for a just transition from carbon-based energy production in the country. Clear timeframes The study also indicates the Ministry of Minerals and Energy should develop a specific RE policy, regularity frameworks and standards that are accompanied by a costed implementation strategy and plan with clear timeframes. It says the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA), working closely with Business Botswana, should implement the Energy Feed In Tariffs (EFT) in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Minerals and Energy. The study found that although Botswana possesses considerable renewable energy potential, most notably solar, wind and bioenergy, these remain largely unexploited, despite the country’s ambitious plans for integrating renewable energy into its energy system. It says Botswana needs to have a clearer policy, a firm regulatory framework, an investment package and a separate RE programme for concerted RE implementation to achieve the 15 percent energy mix in 7 years’ time and an additional 35 percent to make a 50 percent mix in 13 years from today. The report says interviews with Botswana’s high-ranking energy ministry officials and a survey show that the path to incorporating RE into mainstream energy use can often be complex and requires overcoming market availability issues, various regulatory, policy, and/or financial obstacles, among other issues. E nergy storage battery systems “For example, Botswana has to deal with the low-capacity factor for solar energy,” it notes. “There are peak periods of 5am to 10am demanding 680 megawatts. During the day, this demand drops drastically and then peaks again from 5pm to 10pm.” It says this calls for advanced energy storage battery systems to ensure energy is harnessed and not wasted away. However, it points out, these are expensive and not an attractive option, given the low-capacity factor. Furthermore, says the report, while the Integrated Resource Plan provides a roadmap, it lacks implementation guidelines to guide various agencies tasked with implementation. Results from the e-survey conducted for the study have confirmed the low uptake of RE in Botswana. From the 303 respondents, the commonly used sources of fuel are cooking gas (28.16 percent), coal (26.53 percent) and solar (24.37 percent). On the other hand, 9.93 percent respondents reported using biomass (wood and grass), 5.42 percent used hydroelectricity, 3.07 percent used paraffin whilst 2.53 percent used biofuel (ethanol, cow dung). “Renewable energy use, and in particular solar, is much higher than the 1 percent reported nationally because the sample was purposely and deliberately biased towards enterprises dealing with renewable energy issues as vendors or users/consumers RE and specifically solar energy14 development,” the report says. Implementation challenges It adds that these barriers cut across policy, institutional and regulatory frameworks, technology, the market, and capacity. When respondents for the survey for this work were asked to indicate the type of renewable energy they were currently using, 47.20 percent of the respondents said they were using solar energy, 5.90 percent said they were using biofuel and 1.5 percent reported using wind energy. The report says the absence of an appropriate legal and regulatory framework also poses a challenge to investors as this brings little confidence in the system. Results from stakeholders indicate that the country was comparatively late in coming up with RE policy and regulation. “Currently, Botswana faces challenges associated with implementation of development projects and the energy sector is not an exception,” says the report. “Some of these implementation failures in the energy sector result from weak project management skills, poor quality of equipment, substandard workmanship, and lack of maintenance of the installed systems.” Focus Group Discussions Some of the key challenges at policy and regulatory level identified by key informants and Focus Group Discussions include the fact that having coal in abundance in Botswana results in most planning being directed to coal. Generally, says the study, the preference is biased towards the BPC as a state-owned enterprise (SOE) . Other issues raised are that there had been a lack of direction and no master plan for the previous 10 years and that the market was skewed towards the BPC Lesedi – aimed at the small individual units. [/ihc-hide-content]

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Business Botswana Study Calls for Restructuring of BPC

Seeing that there has been a lack of direction and no master plan for the energy development in the last 10 years, a study has recommended ambitious restructucting at BPC to cover the lacuna and provide for the future in the green era

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Business Botswana Study Calls for Restructuring of BPC

Seeing that there has been a lack of direction and no master plan for the energy development in the last 10 years, a study has recommended ambitious restructucting at BPC to cover the lacuna and provide for the future in the green era

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