Upload Date : 26 January, 2022
Renewable Energy Project [BUAN Enterprises (Pty) Ltd Agrivoltaic Project]
The Renewable Energy project which has been presented to the Staff members in different forums commenced construction in December 2021. Preceding the construction was all other regulatory requirements compliance which include but not limited to; Environmental Management Plan, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) requirements and Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority approvals. Concurrently the project went through several governance processes of the University.
In more detail, the project is a 1Megawatt solar project which will power the University during daytime. The electricity bill of the University is expected to reduce by more than 50% over the years as the tariffs rapidly rise. At initial stages there will be excess power produced and it will be pumped back into the BPC grid for an already agreed rate.
The term Agrivoltaic is a combination of agriculture and voltage. Under the solar panels, BUAN Enterprises will farm horticultural products to maximise the usage of land. The panels will reduce moisture loss from the ground and protect crops during very hot summer days. The panels will have control motors which enable them to follow the movement of the sun.
This project was funded and carried out with the private sector with private funds of up to BWP15,000,000 raised from international funders. BUAN enterprises (Pty) Ltd and its Technical Partner, MarketVest (Pty) Ltd combined and worked very hard to make this project a reality. The Partners formed a Special Purpose Vehicle named AGRIVOLT BE (Pty) Ltd for purposes of implementing this project.
This is a prototype project for BUAN Enterprises (Pty) Ltd which will showcase the agrivoltaic technology. Farmers, institutions, mines etc are expected to be future customers of BUAN Enterprises for customised solar solutions. Panels will be installed in February 2022 commissioning is expected to be between March and April 2022.
BUAN ENTERPRISES WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST AGRIVOLTAIC PROJECT IN AFRICA AND IT WILL BE OPEN FOR RESEARCH TO THE BUAN COMMUNITY.
Watch the space for more updates. For more information on the project, kindly contact Business Development Director, Mr K. Pifelo @3650725