2022 AWEaP Webinar Series 11 – Report

Botswana currently uses coal to provide the majority of its electricity and has enormous coal reserves of about 200 billion tonnes. With 3,200 hours of sunshine a year and irradiance of 6,640 Wh/m2/day, it also has a large solar potential. The installed capacity is only partially operational (450 MW), and additional demand is satisfied by importing electricity, mainly from South Africa. From all the countries in Southern Africa, Mozambique has the highest potential for Gas power production. 187 gigawatts of power could be produced using coal, hydro, gas, and wind energy sources.

Both markets desire to modernise their electrical systems to increase access to power for more people living in rural areas. Future energy demand in Mozambique will be fuelled by industry and business because the majority of the populace cannot afford the current prices, even though they are heavily subsidised.

The Mozambican government has prioritised rural electrification development in order to reduce the expense of extending the grid to rural areas. While the only electricity provider, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), has also started a programme to electrify rural areas as part of the construction of its distribution network. For our November webinar we invited the following stakeholders to share insights into this exciting electricity market of both Botswana and Mozambique.

These were insights shared during our webinar.

Other speakers incluced:

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs):

OEMs design and manufacture products, services, solutions and systems sought after by utilities and different large power users in the energy and power sector. We invite them to share trends in electricity system digitisation, decarbonisation and decentralisation. We invited them to talk about how the power system is being affected by trends such as digitization, decarbonization, and decentralisation as well as opportunities for women. Rockwell Automation and Siemens shared presentations on leading technology for the electricity sector in the region and identified opportunities within this region.

Electricity Utilities

Energy sector insights on power strategies, infrastructure, and regulatory reform were offered by EDM, BPC, and HBC.

Industry Associations

Building trustworthy market networks and promoting various policy reforms in favour of socioeconomic development are important tasks for industry associations. We welcome non-profit organisations and business organisations to contribute details about the programmes they are running to improve gender mainstreaming in Africa’s energy and power ecosystem. The following industry associations made presentations: Women for Sustainable Energy and Climate Action, Women in Energy Botswana and Mozambique Women in Energy.