Botswana Secures $100 Million Investment to Advance 100 MW Tati Solar Project, Energy Transition

Botswana has secured $100 million in financing for its 100 MW Tati Solar Project, a significant step that advances the country’s energy transition from policy ambition to physical infrastructure.

The 100 MW Tati Solar Project, located approximately 25 kilometres southeast of Francistown in Botswana’s North-East District and occupying roughly 160 hectares of land, will be the country’s first utility-scale solar power plant and one of the most closely watched renewable energy projects in Southern Africa.

The project is expected to enter commercial operation in 2027 and sell electricity into the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), a regional electricity market that serves 12 countries and more than 360 million people.

It is led by Tati Solar (Pty) Ltd, with Etavi Renewables holding a controlling 51 per cent stake. Shumba Energy, the majority owner of Etavi Renewables, is traditionally known for its coal interests, but has increasingly repositioned itself towards renewable energy investments as part of a wider diversification strategy, mirroring broader trends across Southern Africa, where energy developers are increasingly balancing legacy fossil-fuel assets with low-carbon generation projects.

A Commercially Viable Financing Structure

The financing package was arranged and underwritten by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand Limited, which acted as the lead arranger, financier and underwriter for the project.

“We found a financing structure that is commercially viable at utility scale for a pure market view into the SAPP, and that’s great, because it increases the volumes that are now traded on the SAPP day-ahead market,” Head of Infrastructure Sector Solutions at RMB, Siyanda Mflathelwa, said.

A Different Model

The Tati Solar Project is being developed as a merchant power project, financed largely on the expectation that Botswana can participate directly in regional electricity trading and potentially emerge as a renewable energy exporter. This is quite unlike most utility-scale renewable energy projects in Africa that are financed through a combination of development finance institutions, such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank, export credit agencies, or sovereign-backed power purchase agreements that provide lenders with predictable revenue streams.

What this Means for Botswana

Botswana is one of Africa’s most coal-dependent power markets, according to the World Bank, with coal accounting for about 97 per cent of electricity generation. With constant operational challenges, however, domestic generation has been unable to meet demand, forcing the country to source roughly 52 per cent of its electricity through imports from the Southern African Power Pool.

The development of the Tati Solar Project is poised to alter this landscape, coming at a time when the search for cost-effective solutions to chronic power shortages by governments and private investors has accelerated utility-scale solar projects across Southern Africa. 

Measured against multi-gigawatt renewable energy programmes elsewhere, the Tati Solar Project’s 100 MW capacity may appear modest. However, viewed within the Botswana context, it is transformational and could serve as a model for future merchant renewable projects across the continent.

The Sustainability Question

Projected to add low-carbon electricity to a region that still relies largely on coal-heavy generation, the 100 MW Tati Solar Project will be a positive for the environment. This has the potential to reduce the emissions intensity of power consumed or traded through the regional grid, while helping Botswana to make better use of its strong solar resource.

From the economic point of view, Botswana has long relied on diamonds as its major revenue earner. However, slowing growth in the mining sector has compelled the country to intensify efforts to develop new industries capable of attracting foreign capital and generating export earnings. Renewable energy has thus emerged as part of its broader diversification strategy. The coming of the Tati Solar Project will further advance this strategy.

Add to this the construction and operations jobs that the investment is expected to create, the local technical capacity it can build, suppliers and service businesses it can attract, the permanent positions it will open once the facility enters commercial operation, and the export revenue it can generate, especially with its ambition to sell electricity into the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

These are projections. The ultimate test of sustainability will be in how fairly and transparently the project developers handle issues around land acquisition, community and stakeholder engagement, local employment and procurement, worker safety, grievance process, biodiversity impacts, water use, and waste (panels and electrical equipment) disposal.

Undoubtedly, the 100 MW Tati Solar Project is a potentially important clean-energy, energy-security and green-growth asset for Botswana. To ensure sustainability, the project must now deliver verifiable emissions reductions, reliable grid integration, local economic value, and responsible environmental and social management.