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Botswana continues talks with two CBM developers
BOTSWANA
BOTSWANA is negotiating with two preferred bidders to build a CBM-to-power plant on an independent power producer (IPP) basis.
Botswana’s Sekaname and Australia’s Tlou Energy are both talking to the Ministry of Min- eral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security a er being named preferred bidders by the Procurement Disposal Asset Disposal Board (PPADB).
“As per the PPDB Act, the negotiations out- comes will go through an approval process by PPADB prior to awarding of the tender,” said the ministry in a statement.
Tender documents call for a CBM-fired power plant with a nameplate capacity of up to 110 MW (gas engines), a supporting gas- eld extraction and processing facility to supply gas to the power plant and a 220-kV transmission line to evacuate the power to the Serule substation.
Tlou separately said that it was bidding to construct a power plant that could eventually have 100 MW of capacity, although it wanted to build 10 MW at rst before proceeding in stages in order to reduce initial capital needs.
Tlou offered to provide power to the Bot- swana grid for $0.12 per kWh. e company sub- mitted a request for proposal (RfP) submission to the government in October 2018.
Tlou managing director Tony Gilby said the proposal was “very competitive” and approval of
the tender represented “great progress” for the company.
“ e company will now progress with addi- tional work on the ground to deliver a gas‐to‐ power solution that can bring signi cant bene ts tothecountryandtoourshareholders,”hesaid.
Tlou is drilling for CBM at Lesedi 3 and Lesedi 4, and also has licences for the Mambai and Boomslang elds.
Botswana has 190 bn cubic metres of eco- nomically recoverable CBM
The country’s power demand currently stands at 550 MW. In theory the Chinese-built Morupule B power plant can generate 450 MW, but it has only been operating at up to 33% of capacity, meaning that the country has to import power from South Africa.
Although exploiting CBM and developing a gas-to-power industry would reduce these imports, there are concerns that Botswana’s potential is just too small at up to 100 MW, meaning that the country will struggle to gain access to the cutting-edge technology required.
As well as CBM, the country is investing in solar farms and an extension to the Moropule B power plant in a bid to become self-su cient in electricity. e government plans to support $1.8bn of investment in the power sector to meet up to 500 MW of forecast new demand by 2030.™
RENEWABLES
RENEWABLES: Enel Green Power launches construction at 140MW Garob wind farm
SOUTH AFRICA
ITALY’S Enel has started to build the 140MW Garob wind farm near Copperton in South Afri- ca’s Northern Cape Province.
e facility is to be built at a cost of €200mn ($224mn) and will be the Enel renewables sub- sidiary Enel Green Power’s h wind project in the country.
“With the start of construction of Garob, we have reached yet another important milestone in South Africa just weeks a er breaking ground at the Oyster Bay wind project,” said Antonio Cam- misecra, head of Enel Green Power.
Garob is the third wind project Enel Green Power has started building in South Africa since
the beginning of 2019.
e other two 140MW projects are at Nxuba
and Oyster Bay, bringing the total under con- struction to 420 MW. Garob is Enel’s rst project in the Northern Cape.
When Garob is opened in the first half of 2021, it will boast 46 turbines and generate 573 Wh per year.
Enel Green Power is developing the Garob wind farm as an independent power producer (IPP), after being awarded the project by the government during the fourth bidding window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 27 10•July•2019