Botswana breaks ground on solar-plus-storage project with 500 MWh battery

A groundbreaking ceremony has taken place for a 500 MW solar project in Botswana.

Plans for the Maun solar project, to be located in northwestern Botswana, were first confirmed earlier this month as part of a government to government partnership between Botswana and Oman.

An update published by the government of Botswana adds that the 500 MW solar site will be tied to 500 MWh of battery energy storage, enabling solar to be deployed during peak demand periods during early morning and evening.

The project is to be developed under an independent power producer model, with Okavango Solar, a company wholly-owned by Oman’s NAQAA Sustainable Energy LLC, a subsidiary of state-owned renewable energy company O-Green, set to own and operate the facility. A 30-year power purchase agreement has been put in place with the state-owned Botswana Power Corporation acting as the offtaker.

Once completed, the Maun project is set to become one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects in Southern Africa. “This is not merely a project, it is a clear statement that Botswana is poised to become a regional energy hub,” commented Botswana’s President, Duma Boko.

The government’s latest update adds that Botswana’s utility-scale solar market has been progressing via two 100 MW-plus projects, the already-operational Mmadinare project, and the Jwaneng project, which it says is nearing full commissioning.

Botswana currently has 181.5 MW of operational solar, according to the Africa Solar Industry Association’s (AFSIA) project database. The country is targeting a 50% contribution from renewable sources to its national energy mix by 2030, up from around 8% today.

Earlier this week, another massive solar-plus-storage project broke ground in neighboring Zambia, featuring a 600 MWh battery storage system.

From pv magazine global