- Tsaone Segaetsho
With the world steadily moving away from a reliance on conventional energy sources and embracing more renewable forms of power generation, stakeholders in the energy sector the world over have constantly been looking at ways to play a meaningful role in this process.
One such player is Scatec ASA, an Independent Power Producer (IPP) headquartered in Oslo, Norway, which owns the recently commissioned 100 MegaWatts (MW) Mmadinare Solar Cluster Project situated in Selebi-Phikwe, approximately 400 kilometres north-east of Gaborone.
In the company’s 2023 annual report, Scatec Chief Executive Officer, Terje Pilskog, said that the project, which ranks as the largest of its kind in Botswana, serves as a prospective revenue stream for the company from 2024.
Pilskog said Scatec was well-positioned for continued growth, with over one gigawatt (GW) of new solar projects at the final quarter of 2023, adding that construction had already started in Botswana and South Africa, representing P446 million in equity investment and design and construction (D&C) revenues of almost P3.6 billion.
The Mmadinare 100MW Solar Project’s construction is divided into two phases. The first phase was initiated through a groundbreaking ceremony last month and is expected to be completed by January 2025. The second phase is expected to be completed by July 2025. The Mmadinare 100MW solar project is proximal to the formerly mining town of Selebi-Phikwe, approximately 400 kilometres from capital Gaborone.
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), First National Bank of Botswana’s corporate and investment wing, is funding the Mmandinare 100MW Solar Project’s first phase and has already availed 50 percent of the project’s funding requirements. Funding for the other half of the project was secured from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank.
When fully operational, the Mmadinare 100MW Solar Power Plant will ensure that 48 000 tons of CO2 emissions will be avoided as it is expected to power 20 000 households annually.
In the build-up toward the project’s groundbreaking ceremony in March, Pilskog told The Executive Botswana at Selebi Phikwe that one of the company’s priorities in Botswana is to enhance the security of supply, as well as meet demand in the country, with the possibility of exporting power to neighbouring countries.
“We are not only mitigating climate change. We are also fostering economic growth and creating jobs. As Scatec we are also aiming at empowering local communities residing around the plant,” said Pilskog.
Pilskog added that the solar power plant comes as a solution for the energy dilemma in Botswana and is going to provide sustainable, affordable and secure energy supply. The 100 MW Mmadinare Solar Cluster, first of its kind and scale in Botswana, is the first utility scale grid connected solar PV project to be delivered through an Independent Power Producer project structure.
Scatec was in February 2020 appointed by BPC through a competitive tender process which resulted in a Power Purchase Agreement which was signed between the two parties in on 31 August 2022.
The Mmadinare solar plant will be is under deliverance and operation of Scatec ASA under a 25 Year Power Purchase Agreement, with Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) as the offtake.
The scope of the project also includes construction of a 220 kV substation and the associated transmission lines to connect the plant to the national grid. Botswana’s government has also revealed that that ten (10) small scale grid-tied solar PV plants with a combined capacity of 32MW have been awarded to 100% citizen-owned companies.
