Tlou Energy seeks to supercharge nation
Katlego Isaacs | Tuesday March 22, 2022 06:00
The project is funded by a P50 million Botswana loan from the Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF).
The Lesedi Power Project is a two-phase natural gas extraction initiative that would seek to allow the nation to be able to exploit the energy potential sitting in the Lesedi coal bed methane (CBM) fields to create greater energy production independence for Botswana.
The first phase of the project is expected to commence between 2022 and 2023 and will involve the drilling of six natural gas wells, the construction of the 100km transmission line to Serowe, the construction substations, grid connections and electricity generators to produce 2MW of electricity.
Upon completion, the second phase of the project will involve ramping up production to 10MW of electricity with the drilling of more natural gas wells and the purchase of more electricity generation equipment.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be at the tune of P300 million, of which BOBPF has already loaned P50 million to fund the construction of phase one of the project.
Tlou Energy already has a power purchase deal with Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) to supply up to 10MW of electricity to the national grid and beyond that the CBM developer’s has demonstrated 7.1 billion m3 of natural gas sitting within the Lesedi fields.
Managing director of Tlou Energy, Tony Gilby stated that the commencement of transmission line construction represents a new & exciting phase for Tlou, “aimed at delivering on our huge gas-to-power potential & starting the monetisation process for our considerable gas reserves”.
“Having secured the first tranche of BPOPF funds allowing us to get Zismo started on the transmission line we are now progressing additional power off-takers as well as exploring further ways of monetising our enormous gas reserves,” he said.
Zismo Engineering stated that the first stage of development will be the erection of wooden poles fitted with an overhead 66kV transmission line, capable of supplying up to 25MW of power into the grid; possibly indicating expansive ambitions beyond the 10MW production Tlou has been approved for.
The line will commence from the Lesedi fields and run across 100km until branching off to a further 5km line that will connect the fields directly to the BPC grid. It is estimated the construction will take roughly 15 months.
Tlou Energy also teased the idea of exploring renewable green energy sources in future once the Lesedi Power Project is complete.
“We are looking at developing the hydrogen potential of the country, another lucrative source of revenue. We also have solar on the horizon,” Finance Director of Tlou, Colm Cloonan said.