The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa), managed by development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB), has approved a $1-million grant to facilitate Botswana’s transition to clean energy.

The technical assistance project supports the government of Botswana in closing critical gaps in policy, regulatory and legal frameworks, which were identified at the Africa Energy Market Place and which include the introduction of least-cost planning, reduction of adverse environmental impacts and support for increased private sector participation in renewable energy generation investments.

“Some of the notable outputs from the project include a national Grid Code, Electricity Cost of Service Study (CoSS) and licensing framework to regulate power sector activities. The outputs from the project will contribute towards the implementation of Botswana’s first Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), thus facilitating investments in at least 100 MW of new solar photovoltaic and at least 50 MW wind generation capacity by 2030.

“Through its support for the further development of the renewable energy generation sector in Botswana, the project also contributes to the Mega Solar initiative, launched in 2021 in collaboration with Namibia and development partners, with the aim of building renewable energy capacity in the two countries, to enable electricity exports to the rest of the region,” the AfDB says.

Conceptualised under Sefa’s Green Baseload component, the project will contribute to the development of essential building blocks to support Botswana’s energy transition, says AfDB Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency acting director Dr Daniel Schroth.

“The approval is a great step forward in the regulator’s quest to facilitate independent power producers, renewable energy sources and cost-reflective tariffs in Botswana. It was worthwhile pursuing this technical assistance from the AfDB,” comments Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority COO Duncan Morotsi.