Gov’t secures P50m to electrify 33 villages
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday August 29, 2023 09:43
In his address, Moagi said electrifying the villages will contribute to the country's Vision 2036 which aims to improve the standard of living for its citizens. He said electricity is essential to the transformation of the nation’s economy from middle to a higher income status, adding that this is to ensure that the country’s gross domestic product rises from 4.3 percent achieved in 2016 to 5.7 percent. “This can only be achieved through digitalisation, value chain development, and mindset change as part of the country's reset agenda,” Moagi said. He remarked that it would be tragic if the villagers chose not to take advantage of the new development even though the government had lowered the installation cost. “The government took a deliberate decision to reduce the electricity connection fees to P2,500 so that everyone can have access to electricity,” he added. The government may eventually think about providing free electricity installation for low-income Batswana so that every home in the country gets electrified, he noted. According to Moagi, integrated plans for producing electricity using coal, wind, and solar energy are under development to serve the most isolated villages.
For his part, BPC CEO David Kgoboko stated that the parastatal’s goal is to guarantee that everyone in the country has access to power by 2030. He revealed that so far 457 villages out of 565 have been electrified, which translate to 81% rural electrification rate. Kgoboko said by electrifying the extra 33 villages, the rate of rural electrification will rise to 83%, adding that they are going to expand their services to 28 villages. The decision came after realising that the same villages has expanded and other wards needs to be electrified The BPC CEO revealed that the project will be completed by April 2025.
Prior to this, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, Ellen Richard-Madisa said lack of resources, equipment, and ageing materials that need to be replaced are some of the biggest obstacles to the programme's implementation. She added there was a continuing need to upgrade some power lines in order to boost transmission and distribution across the nation. Richard-Madisa stated that 80% of the current budget is directed towards network extension. Richard-Madisa said that the government is aware that electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure will not have reached certain areas and places of the country by 2030.
The Permanent Secretary reasoned that the affected areas and places are too far from the existing electricity supply transmission and distribution grid, due to financial and economic limitations for putting such infrastructure in place. “The Off-Grid solution or programme that is still under incubation, anticipates utilisation of stand-alone and cluster solar photovoltaic power generated and isolated grid systems where necessary,” she said.