Botswana has planned to export its off-peak surplus electricity to South Africa, said a statement by Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).
For the past three months, Morupule A and B Power Plants were in full operation dispatching an average of 580 MW to the national grid daily, which has been meeting local energy needs during off-peak hours, said the statement.
In an interview with Radio Botswana in Gaborone, Minister of Minerals and Energy Lefoko Moagi stated that the national grid requires an average of 365 MW daily during off-peak hours and 580 MW during peak demand.”Therefore we will be able to export excess power to South Africa,” Lefoko said.
The BPC has started engaging Eskom, a state-owned electricity utility of South Africa, to sell the excess electricity supply generated during off-peak times (weekends) in order to protect the plants against load management fluctuations and also to ensure that surplus electricity has a secured market.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday revealed plans to import electricity from its neighbours to supplement the country’s constrained energy supply.
Botswana hopes to realize its goal of becoming “a regional benchmark in power delivery” by 2026 with the Maduo26 strategy, a five-year plan unveiled last year.