Botswana Power Corp., the national power utility of Botswana, has issued a request for proposals for the development and construction of seven solar PV power plants.

It has not provided any details on the combined and individual capacity of the solar plants, nor has it revealed their locations. Interested developers have until March 31 to submit their bids.

The utility issued a similar tender in January 2022. However, it is unclear if the new tender builds on that procurement exercise, or simply replaces it.

Botswana also aims to deploy large-scale PV through several tenders. In addition, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security (MMGE) launched a net-metering scheme for rooftop PV systems in late 2020.

Solar energy is expected to help Botswana reduce its dependence on electricity imports from South Africa, as its neighbor is plagued by energy shortages due to an operational and financial crisis at national utility Eskom. According to the latest statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Botswana had just 6 MW of installed PV power by the end of 2021.