Background
Botswana has made significant progress in expanding electricity access and strengthening its energy sector. As the country advances its energy transition, improving energy efficiency in public buildings presents an important opportunity to reduce electricity consumption, lower public expenditure, enhance energy security, and contribute to national climate objectives. Public facilities such as government offices, hospitals, and schools account for a significant share of electricity demand and offer strong potential for cost-effective energy savings.
Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) are internationally proven approaches for delivering energy efficiency investments without upfront capital from building owners. However, Botswana's ESCO market remains at an early stage. Performance-based contracting is not yet institutionalized, while enabling policies, standardized contracts, financing mechanisms, and measurement and verification (M&V) systems remain underdeveloped.
CTCN Support
This technical assistance will support the Government of Botswana in creating an enabling environment for Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) in public buildings. It will strengthen the policy, regulatory, institutional, and technical foundations required for ESCO market development through standardized contractual frameworks, implementation guidelines, improved Measurement and Verification (M&V) approaches, and capacity building for key stakeholders.
The assistance will also develop a pipeline of pilot ESPC projects and identify financing and de-risking mechanisms to improve project bankability and mobilize private investment.
Expected Outcome
Botswana has an enabling framework for Energy Saving Performance Contracting, including standardized policy and contractual tools, a pipeline of pilot projects, and viable financing and de-risking approaches. These foundations will enable public institutions and private sector stakeholders to initiate and scale performance-based energy efficiency investments.
