Govt, Kalahari Energy sign for power station

25th July 2008

MMEGI - Friday, 25th July 2008
WANETSHA MOSINYI
Staff Writer

Kalahari Energy (KE) is the preferred power producer (IPP) to develop a 250MW power station for the embattled Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).

KE Development Manager, Craig Kirkland, revealed in an interview at the Botswana Resource Conference that the contract was signed on Wednesday and construction should be complete in the first quarter of 2010.
"I don't have all the details at the moment but the contract was signed yesterday morning. It's a big one for us and we are very excited about the project," said Kirkland.

He said the station would use coal bed methane gas (CBM) to produce power. They will get gas resources from their project at Mmashoro, between Serowe and Orapa. According to Kirkland, they will dig further gas holes in the area for the power plant and it is an advantage for the project that it's near Morupule hence it will be easy to connect to the main grid.

Kalahari Energy which controls a 3,200,000 acre gas field in the Kalahari Karoo basin, is a gas exploration and development company based in Gaborone. Kirkland said KE's other projects in the future would include using CBM for industrial heat production, cooking purposes and 'gas to liquids' production.

CBM can also be used for motor vehicles as fuel. It has advantages because natural gas burns cleaner than other fuels, providing longer engine life and lower maintenance costs. Unlike coal, CBM does not contain environmentally harmful pollutants, and its production by-product, water, can possibly be used for irrigation or industrial process water.

BPC advertised for tenders from IPP's last year to cater for what it terms a "supply gap" as Botswana and the rest of the region face acute power shortages. Current electricity demand in Botswanais estimated at 500MW, which may rise to about 600MW over the next three to four years. The BPC is worried about a supply gap particularly during the 2010/11 period before Morupule B power station comes on stream in 2012.

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