RE: Morupule B: a Pula 15 billion catastrophe. Minister declares energy crisis1 Apr 2025 10:57
“The performance of Morupule B has been erratic since commissioning in 2012/13 due to substandard construction, significant non-compliance with specifications, poor workmanship, and defective materials,” Kenewendo said.
She explained that defects in boiler pressure parts have led to frequent failures, crippling electricity generation. “Since inception, direct costs—including operations and maintenance—have amounted to P5.4 billion. Indirect costs, primarily power imports, have skyrocketed to P18.9 billion over 13 years, with P18.1 billion spent on imports alone.”
The crisis worsened after Morupule B’s Unit 2 failed on February 14, 2025, followed by Unit 4 on March 22, 2025. Meanwhile, Unit 3 remains offline for long-term defect remediation, leaving only Unit 1 functional but running at a reduced 105 MW instead of 150 MW.
Botswana now relies heavily on electricity imports, particularly from South Africa’s Eskom, but power shortages in the region have made imports costly. Available electricity on the market, particularly during peak hours, comes mainly from emergency diesel plants at exorbitant rates. This has prompted the Minister to engage her South African counterpart on Thursday to discuss a better deal. As a result, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) has imposed rotational load shedding to balance supply and avoid total system collapse.
Over the past four years, BPC has faced severe liquidity challenges due to the rising cost of imports. The price per unit of imported electricity has surged 166% from 85 thebe to 226 thebe. While 65% of Botswana’s power demand is met through local generation, the remainder depends on costly imports.
To stabilize the situation, Botswana is working on the Morupule B defects remediation project, expected to be completed by the end of 2027, alongside the commissioning of new Independent Power Producer (IPP) plants.
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