Headway in maiden CBM power project
Brian Benza | Friday January 13, 2017 13:45
The company has the most advanced CBM project in Botswana with an independently certified contingent resources of 3.3 trillion cubic feet (3C) at Lesedi making it the most likely to develop Botswana’s first CBM power project. In a statement, the company said the RFP indicates the government’s commitment to facilitate the development of a CBM industry in Botswana.
The proposed government power purchase agreement (PPA) will assist in fast tracking the development of the gas industry in the country and create a new market for Tlou’s independently certified gas reserves and significant contingent gas resources.
The RFP requires details of the proposed field development, the installation of power generation facilities and supply of power into the grid in Botswana.
The closing date for this tender is July 12, 2017. Tlou’s Managing Director Tony Gilby said, “We are pleased to receive the RFP from the Botswana Government and look forward to providing them with a detailed, compelling and compliant tender for our pilot power generation project at Lesedi.
“This is the next step in the path to a binding offtake agreement and is testament to the fact that the Botswana Government remains committed to see CBM power projects developed in Botswana so that CBM can become a long term indigenous source of cleaner energy for the country”.
Tlou, which holds 10 prospecting licences covering an area of 8,300 square kilometres in Botswana, is one of two companies selected to bid for the development of up to 100MW of power using CBM as an Independent Power Producer.
The government has developed this initiative to allow companies such as Tlou to develop pilot plants and facilitate the development of their CBM resource to levels which may lead to the supply of gas to the state-owned 90MW Orapa Power Plant, which is situated approximately 150km to the north of the Lesedi CBM Project.
In 2015, government floated tender inviting companies to express interest in the supply of gas to the Orapa 90MW power station.
The dual fuel power station is currently running on diesel and the tender is part of plans to convert the plant to CBM. This is expected to reduce the cost of producing electricity at the power station by up to 60%.
It is estimated that the two turbines of the power plant consumes up to 17,000 litres of diesel per hour at peak use. Conversion of the power plant to CBM is estimated to the costs of producing electricity from 24 cents (P2.28) per kilowatts to about 10 cents (90 thebe) per kilowatt. In the next five years government hopes to deliver up to 800MW of power through independent power producers using coal, solar and CBM resources.