Spadework for new coal mine at Morupule
Brian Benza | Friday September 26, 2014 15:28
This is within its lease area to feed into the envisaged 300MW second phase of Morupule B power plant. The open cast mine, which will be built adjacent to the existing underground operations, is projected to be complete by 2017.
Responding to Business Week Enquiries, MCM Chief Communication’s officer, Boikhutso Ncube, said the company is currently undertaking studies for the new open cast mine.
“Dependent on approvals and the power station development timelines, construction of the mine is expected to commence in mid-2017 with mining activity predicted to commence in 2018. The new mine is set to supply the Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) 300MW Brownfields Power Station in Palapye,” she said.
MCM’s underground mine currently produces up to 3.2 million tonnes per annum with the bulk of the coal feeding into the Morupule B plant. The project to expand Morupule B power plant consists of extending the existing power station by designing, financing, constructing, owning, operating and maintaining a 2 x 150MW coal fired power plant to be built at the pithead of Morupule Coal Mine.
Government is expected to announce the successful Engineering procurement and construction (EPC) bidder for the project before the end of the year.
The successful bidder will enter into a Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the Botswana Power Corporation outlining the tariff charge for power produced over the duration of the contract.
According to PPADB documents, as at December 2013, the initial list of 12 bidders for the project has since been cut down to seven, featuring some of the world’s biggest energy firms.
Another tender for a 300MW Greenfield power plant to be built is also out.
The two power plants are part of government plans to plug any future power shortfalls as demand is expected to increase in line with economic growth.
The country currently generates 600 MW from Morupule B.
Government is also refurbishing the Morupule A power station as part of the raft of measures to avoid any deficits.
Both the revamping of Morupule A and the Morupule B phase ll is expected to cost P8 billion. Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) Kenneth Matambo revealed in his National Budget this year that the refurbishment of Morupule A, which has the maximum capacity to generate 132MW, would cost P1.4 billion.
The 25-year-old power station was placed on care and maintenance two years ago after plant availability dropped to below 30 percent due to aging components.
BPC’s own estimates indicate that Morupule A will contribute nearly 20 percent of the projected national electricity demand when it is fully returned to the grid in 2016.
Despite its age, two separate studies have indicated that Morupule A can be brought back to design level capacity through refurbishment of boilers, turbines, generators and other equipment. Once refurbished, the station could run for another 15 years at 80 percent plant availability.
According to the BPC’s forecasts, the country’s peak electricity demand is likely to reach 902MW in 2020, to be supplied by net capacity 912MW from the expanded Morupule B and the refurbished Morupule A. The corporation estimates that in 2020, Botswana will have excess power supply of 364MW and in fact, an export market will be required as early as 2016 should all the projects in the pipeline come to fruition.