Mmamabula West power station — Botswana

Mmamabula West power station is a 600 MW coal power station in Central, Botswana. It ranks #4 of 12 Botswana power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 98.3% of Botswana's electricity; the national grid averages 851 gCO₂/kWh (0.3% low-carbon) (2024).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_coa_mmamabulawest_botsw.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: GEM GCPT; fuel: GEM GCPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 600 MW, Mmamabula West power station is around the median coal plant in Botswana (600 MW). Its current lifecycle status is “Shelved” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #4 largest coal power plant of 11 in Botswana by capacity.

Botswana has 11 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 8,111 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• CIC Domestic power station · Coal · 300 MW · Central
• Mmamabula Energy Project · Coal · 3,600 MW · Central
• Mookane Domestic Power Project · Coal · 300 MW · Central
• Vedanta power station · Coal · 600 MW · Limpopo
• Namane power station · Coal · 660 MW · Limpopo
• Sibanye Gold power station · Coal · 200 MW · Limpopo

Location

Coordinates -23.609295, 26.774952 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions