Botswana cancels 100 Mw solar power tender, plans to reissue

The project, which was initially structured as a joint venture between BPC and private producers, will now be implemented through independent power producers

GABORONEL: The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), has cancelled a tender in which it was seeking private investor partners to build a 100MW solar power plant, and plans to reissue the tender to make the project fully private owned, the state-owned utility said on Saturday.

“The project which was initially structured as a joint venture between BPC and private producers will now be implemented through independent power producers, meaning it will be 100 percent privately owned,” the BPC said in a statement.

“A new tender is anticipated to be floated by end of June 2019,” said the BPC. The tender in the southern African country had received 166 bids from both local and international power producers.

The state power supplier forecasts energy demand to more than double to 1,359MW by 2035 from around 600MW currently, and is modernising its power grid and sources to meet the surge.

Source: reuters