Despite well-documented operational struggles at the Morupule Power Station, local electricity generation increased during the first quarter of 2022, according to a report from Statistics Botswana.
The report reflects that the index of electricity generation stood at 151.9 MWH during the first quarter (January to March) of 2022, representing an 8.2 percent year-on-year increase from the 140.3 MWH generated during the same quarter in 2021.
Furthermore, the comparison shows an increase of 36 percent from 111.7 MWH during the fourth quarter of 2021.
The physical volume of electricity produced sparked up to 638, 501 MWH, way more than the 589, 899 produced in the first three months of 2021 and the 469, 349 in the last three.
The improvement is attributed to the enhanced performance of Morupule A and B power plants which accounted for 98.8 percent of power generated during the quarter.
Matshelagabedi and Orapa emergency power plants contributed the remaining 0.7 and 0.5 percent respectively.
The physical volume of imported electricity also increased, reaching 367,001 MWH in the first quarter of the year, whereas that figure stood at 353,248 MWH last year.
It was a notable drop, however, from the 543,417 MWH of power imported in the final quarter of 2021.
With regards to power importation, South African utility ESKOM remains the main source for Botswana, accounting for 40.2 percent of the total electricity imports.
The Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited, Electricidade de Mozambique and the Southern African Power Pool supplied 33.2, 9.9 and 9.0 percent respectively during the period under review.
The remaining 5.6 and 2.1 percent was sourced from Cross border electricity markets and Nampower.
Cross border electricity markets are arrangements whereby towns and villages along the border are supplied with electricity from neighbouring countries such as Namibia and Zambia
