By: AGBI

A subsidiary of Oman’s sovereign wealth fund has started building a 500-megawatt solar power plant in Botswana, southern Africa.

The project, including battery energy storage systems, is being developed jointly by Oman Investment Authority unit O-Green and state-owned Botswana Power Corporation in Maun, northern Botswana, the Oman News Agency reported.

The project is the first initiative under an Oman-Botswana energy cooperation pact, which targets the development of capacity totalling up to 3,000MW.  

Upon completion, the plant is expected to more than double Botswana’s power generation capacity. In addition, storage technologies will strengthen national grid reliability and support peak load management.

No details were disclosed on the project’s cost or completion timeline.

O-Green’s project portfolio under development in Oman, the wider GCC, Africa and the European Union is more than 10 gigawatts, the company’s website says.

Oman and Botswana signed an agreement earlier this month to collaborate in several sectors, including mineral exploration, oil product storage and renewable energy.