What is Botswana's energy policy?

A prominent objective of the Policy is to achieve a substantive penetration of new and renewable energy sources in the country’s energy mix; the goal is to attain adequate economic energy self-suficiency and security, as well as positioning Botswana to fulfil its vision in becoming a regional net exporter, especially in the electricity sector.

Is Botswana rebalancing its power mix?

Botswana’s current installed capacity of 890MW, is dominated by coal resources (99%) and the country is in the process of rebalancing the power mix by involving the private sector in building additional capacity in renewable energy sources.

Does Botswana have an Integrated Resource Plan?

Botswana has also issued an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity generation over the next 20 years, covering renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic, wind, concentrated solar thermal, and batteries for energy storage.

Does Botswana need a regulatory framework?

Progress is required in strengthening the regulatory framework; the National Energy Policy (Government of Botswana, 2020b) launched in December 2020 take into account new developments in the energy space. In December 2020, the Department of Energy launched an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity.

Does Botswana have a high energy dependency?

Botswana has high energy dependency, as the largest proportion of overall energy consumption is imported, and oil-based products are mainly imported from South Africa (ICA, 2017). As represented in Figure 6, the biofuels and waste category (traditional biomass) is directed towards the residential sector.

How much energy will Botswana have by 2040?

In line with the IRP model results, the Government of Botswana has approved and intends to implement energy projects with a total installed capacity of 1 540 MW by the year 2040 to meet the growing energy demand at least cost whilst also reducing the country’s carbon footprint.