Scatec, a Norwegian renewable energy producer, has begun work on the 120 MW Mmadinare Solar Complex in Botswana. The project, located in Mmadinare District, near the former mining town of Selebi-Phikwe, would power around 20,000 households.
The Mmadinare project, at BWP 1.4 billion (USD 102.1 million/EUR 94.1 million), is the country’s first utility-scale solar facility. The sod-turning ceremony took place after the Nordic corporation completed financial close on the project’s initial 60-MW stage in December.
Scatec owns the whole project and, once completed, will sell power to the state-owned Botswana Power Corporation under a 25-year power purchase agreement. Originally designed as a 60MW solar PV project, Scatec got Botswana authorities’ clearance in the third quarter of 2023 to extend the project by another 60MW.
“Solar is one of the world’s fastest growing and most cost competitive clean energy sources. Scatec’s pioneering role and solid track record in solar stand testimony to our commitment to value creation; including the positive impact we make and the communities we enhance,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog
Source: Energy Ghana