Power Situation Update

The public is informed that Botswana Power Corporation is currently experiencing power supply shortage due to:

• Low capacity at the old Morupule Power Plant pending refurbishment.
• Limited Electricity Imports
• Limited availability of the Emergency 90MW Orapa Diesel Power Plant
  The current heat wave has also increased demand from cooling systems i.e. refrigeration and air conditioning.
  The phenomenon has resulted in our national demand significantly exceeding supply and has inevitably led to prolonged load shedding exercise being experienced throughout the country.

There are however ongoing interventions to manage this situation, which include among others:

• Bringing back into operation the 70MW Matshelagabedi rented diesel emergency plant. The plant is expected to dispatch power into the grid from Saturday January 14 2012.
• Securing alternative bilateral agreements with some regional utilities
• Working closely with our service providers at the Orapa 90 MW to address problems leading to low availability
• Expediting some of the repairs at the old Morupule plant to increase its output
  

Some other avenues to improve supplies are also being pursued to manage this situation.
It is however anticipated that this adverse situation should improve in the following weeks as these interventions gain traction.
The supply situation is projected to normalise to a sustainable level when the Morupule B plant comes on stream, with the first 150MW from Unit 1 which is scheduled to be commissioned during the current quarter of 2012.

The Corporation pleads with the public to assist by applying appropriate demand management initiatives which will reduce the demand and avoid possible long hours of load shedding, by, among others;

• Switching off geysers during peak hours (6pm-10pm and 6am-10am)
• Switching off all appliances that are not absolutely critical i.e. air conditioners, swimming pool pumps, etc
• Postponing energy intensive activities to outside peak hours i.e. ironing, cooking on electric stoves etc.
• Switching off lights that are not absolutely necessary (inside and outside the house.)

Let us all apply the golden rule “If not in use, switch it off”
On average, the load which has to be shed is 130 MW in an hour. This has thus warranted the revision of the existing load shedding schedule which was prepared for much smaller loads.

The Corporation sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused by the current challenge and assures the public that all possible effort is being applied to minimize the negative impact experienced in this period.