Lesotho can achieve energy security by accelerating clean energy systems across the country, a local clean energy developer, MOSCET, has stated. Electricity connection rates in the country are currently below 50 per cent. In rural areas, it is about 10 per cent. As a result, Lesotho depends on South Africa and Mozambique to supply 50 per cent of its current energy supply.
MOSCET has stated that without significant fossil resources, Lesotho can exploit clean energy resources to generate power. The Energy and Meteorology Ministry study indicated that Lesotho could produce 118 MW from solar energy, 2077 MW from wind energy and 36 MW from small scale hydroelectricity, far more than the country’s current demands.
With a huge rural population, Lesotho can leverage mini-grids to accelerate electrification, especially in isolated regions. However, current industry stakeholders believe that the lack of energy policy implementation frameworks is one of the major impediments to deploying clean energy in the country.
Since 2010, MOSCET has deployed clean energy systems in the Southern African country. In addition, the company has developed several small PV systems in the country. MOSCET has installed over 2500 solar home systems, 1700 solar geyser systems nationwide and over 300 solar street lighting systems. The company has an installed capacity of 200kWp.