Morupule B breaks down again
Brian Benza | Thursday October 9, 2014 16:00
Sporadic load shedding has already been felt in Gaborone, with some consumers saying they experienced power cuts of up to four hours on Monday and Tuesday.
While by the time of going to press yesterday evening, BPC spokesperson Spencer Moreri had not responded to enquiries sent to him on Tuesday morning, sources at the power utility told Mmegi Business that only a single 150MW unit was fully operational.
“We are told three units are down and Eskom is supplying the deficit with minimal supply coming from the two diesel power peaking plants,” said a source within the parastatal that declined to be named.
The station’s four units were supposed to be generating 600MW by October 2012, but adverse weather, followed by a series of technical failures delayed finalisation of the fast-tracked plant.
Plagued by technical troubles including boiler failures throughout its development and operation, the power station’s four units have each in the past two years had to be closed down to allow for remedial work to be carried out leading to widespread power cuts.
While Moreri could not respond to MmegiBusiness queries, Eskom officials confirmed that Botswana has requested for additional supplies.
“Botswana has indeed asked for an increase of its electricity imports from South Africa following the breakdown of the Morupule power station.
“Eskom currently exports 100MW to Botswana as part of the supply agreement. The exports can go up to 300MW -- meaning the 200MW is non-firm, and is dependent on the surplus generating capacity that Eskom has,” said Eskom spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe.
The diesel powered Orapa and Matshelagabedi plants can produce upto 160 MW while BPC can only get an additional maximum of 200MW from Eskom. The country’s peak demand is about 600 MW.
Government plans to pump another P2.05 billion into the financial saddled parastatal this year.
The planned P2.05 bailout to the BPC for its operations and maintenance this year, adds onto P1.49 billion the corporation received via a presidential directive last year to cover Eskom imports, obligations of the Morupule B loan, Morupule Coal Mine bill and operation and maintenance for the Morupule B project.
In 2012/13 the BPC received P540 million towards its Eskom bills and P330 million for its Morupule Coal Mine obligations, while in the 2011/12 financial year, the corporation received P454 million in cash injections.
In anticipation of future deficits as the economy grows, government has planned a further two 300 MW power stations while the old Morupule A is currently being revamped.
The first brownfield 300 MW will be built at Morupule B power station while the Greenfield one will be constructed elsewhere.
Both the revamping of Morupule A and the Morupule B phase ll is expected to cost P8 billion. In his National Budget speech this year Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Kenneth Matambo, revealed that the refurbishment of Morupule A, which has the maximum capacity to generate 132MW, would cost P1.4 billion.