5 January 2025
- Botswana signed a memorandum with India’s KP Group to develop up to 5 gigawatts of renewable capacity.
- The partnership could mobilise about $4 billion in investment, including grid and interconnection upgrades.
- Coal still generated 99% of Botswana’s electricity in 2023, according to the IEA.
Botswana has accelerated efforts to diversify its power generation mix, which coal has long dominated, as international partnerships increasingly drive the transition.
In late 2025, Botswana’s Ministry of Mines and Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s KP Group to develop large-scale renewable energy projects locally. The partnership could raise the southern African country’s cumulative renewable energy capacity to as much as 5 gigawatts.
Beyond power generation, the planned projects include the development and modernisation of high-voltage transmission lines. The projects also include strengthening cross-border interconnections to facilitate regional electricity trade.
KP Group expects the full programme to mobilise an estimated $4 billion in total investment. This agreement forms part of a series of recent initiatives aimed at exploiting Botswana’s renewable energy potential, particularly solar, through international partnerships. In 2025, Norwegian developer Scatec commissioned 120 megawatts of solar capacity in Botswana.
During the same year, the government also signed an agreement with Oman that includes the development of a 500-megawatt solar project. Historically, Botswana has relied heavily on coal-fired generation and regional electricity imports.
According to the International Energy Agency, coal accounted for 99% of Botswana’s electricity generation in 2023, while imports represented 42% of total electricity consumption. The shift towards renewables could, therefore, diversify the power mix and support a more reliable electricity supply.
The strategy also reflects a broader trend across southern Africa, where several countries, including South Africa and Zambia, have recently developed or announced large-scale solar projects.
However, the realisation of Botswana’s partnership with KP Group will now depend on subsequent steps, including project structuring and securing the required financing, as will the agreement with Oman.
*This article was initially published in French by Abdoullah Diop
* Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum
Source: https://shorturl.at/OsyZO
