Botswana Solar (IFC-44613)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Botswana
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Selebi Phikwe, Phokoje, Mmadinare
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 3, 2023
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Selebi Phikwe Solar Pty Ltd, Scatec ASA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 24.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 24.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 60.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Dec 14, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jun 23, 2023

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The Project consists of the development, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of a 50 MWac solar PV plant at Selebi Phikwe in Botswana. The Project will be supplying power to Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement, signed on August 31, 2022. The Project was bid under a competitive process conducted by BPC in October 2020 and awarded to Scatec in August 2021.
The Project is located close to Selebi Phikwe town and will interconnect to the 220kV transmission line between Selebi Phikwe and Phokoje substation. The Phokoje substation is situated on Southern African Power Pool north-south 400kV transmission backbone providing the project a very stable point of interconnection as well as a strategic location in respect of the SAPP. The Project will cover an area of 121ha and will have an installed peak capacity of 60MW, making use of single axis trackers and bifacial solar panels.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

As stated by the IFC, the Project cost is estimated at USD 60 million (including VAT). IFC intends to provide an A loan of up to USD 24 million equivalent, to be split between USD and Pula-linked financing. In addition, IFC is also mobilizing up to BWP 300 million from the South African bank Rand Merchant Bank (“RMB”). The balance is covered by equity from Scatec.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the IFC, the Project Company is Selebi Phikwe Solar Pty Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle incorporated in Botswana. Scatec ASA indirectly owns 100% of the SPV’s shares (through Scatec Netherlands) and will act as the EPC, O&M and Asset Manager in the Project delivery through its vertically integrated business model. To serve this purpose a separate, wholly owned subsidiary has been incorporated in Botswana as Scatec Operations Botswana Pty Ltd. A sell down of 40% of shares in the Project Company to local Batswana investors is envisioned within 5 years after Commercial Operation Date on a best-effort basis.

Scatec, listed on the Oslo stock exchange, is a leading global renewable power producer, delivering affordable and clean energy. Scatec develops, builds, owns, and operates solar, wind and hydro power plants and battery energy storage solutions. With over 767 employees, Scatec has 3.4GW of operational assets and 1.3 GW under construction spread across 21 countries.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Rand Merchant Bank Investor Finance
- - - - Scatec ASA Parent Company Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Parent Company - Scatec ASA:

Eben de Vos - Senior Business Development Manager
Phone: +27 76 332 7798 / +27 (0) 21 202 1230
Email: eben.devos@scatec.com / post.za@scatec.com 
Address: 3 Dock Road, 2nd Floor North Wing, Waterway House, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Website: www.scatec.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works