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Searching Kalahari AND BPC produced this too.
mrozzy
Posts: 322
Price: 5.40
No Opinion
RE: ...6 Sep '19
Can access this article but not everything
Australian gas-to-power developer Tlou Energy expects to conclude by the end of 2019 the negotiations with Botswana Power Company (BPC) for a 30-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for its coalbed methane (CBM) project at Lesedi.
The initial 10MW CBM unit has an estimated cost of $15 million. Tlou Energy expects to reach financial close in Q4 2019, with commercial operations scheduled for Q4 2020.
The Australian company is offering a levelised cost of energy of $0.12 per kilowatt hour though this tariff is based on the initial 10MW pilot project. The project may be built out to the 100MW target as set in the tender, and could also include a 20MW solar PV on-site.
The PPA will also include a credit-enhancement mechanism provided by the government of Botswana to ensure project bankability. Tlou’s project will require a 66kV transmission line to evacuate power to the national grid via Serowe substation.
Botswana’s Department of Environmental Affairs advanced Tlou together with the other preferred bidder – local power developer Sekaname – from the RFP stage in the week of 20 May (2019). The RFP stage had taken nearly two and half years to conclude, including a re-tender in July 2018, but the two IPPs are now out of the procurement process and into the early stages of project development.
Sekaname – a subsidiary of Botswana-based gas exploration and energy development group Kalahari Energy – proposed a 97MW CBM project which has an estimated cost of $400 million, a source previously told IJGlobal. The national grid connection will be made through a 220kV line to the Serule substation.
Tlou Energy is being advised by Grant Thornton.
Lekka
Posts: 508
Price: 5.75
Hold
RE: Bots Procurement Process19 Mar '19
Four bidders race to convert Orapa power station
Four local natural gas developers were on Wednesday unveiled as the front-runners to convert the 90-megawatt Orapa power station from diesel to gas, a contract that could potentially lead to a multi-million Pula power purchase agreement in future.
ByMBONGENI MGUNI Fri 08 May 2015, 15:27 pm (GMT +2) 0 Comments Email Share
: Orapa power turbines currently run on diesel
Expand this Image
Under the Expressions of Interest tender opened this week, one of the four bidders could supply the Orapa power station with natural gas on a trial basis, as a means of testing the plant’s conversion.
At present, Orapa, an emergency plant for periodic shortages, consumes 17, 000 litres of diesel per hour at its two turbines. The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) often runs the plant at its full 10-hour cycle due to perennial electricity shortages and the station is among the drivers of the utility’s annual multi-billion Pula subsidies.
Chairing the tender opening this week, PPADB board secretary, Masingoaneng Ramodimoosi, revealed the four bidders as Tlou Energy, Sekaname Pty Ltd, KS Energy and Ocean Ridge Pty Ltd.
“The Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources will assess the responses and make an appropriate recommendation to the Board on the way forward,” PPADB public relations and education manager, Ditapole Chibua-Tsheboeng told BusinessWeek. Led locally by former MMEWR permanent secretary, Gabaake Gabaake, the Australian Securities Exchange-listed Tlou Energy boasts of being “one of the most advanced Coal Bed Methane projects” in Botswana.
The developer has one of the few independently certified resources in the country’s emerging gas sector, with holdings of approximately 2.3 trillion cubic feet in the Central District. The company recently inked a deal with General Electric for a “gas to power solution” in relation to the Orapa power station and a proposed 300MW gas-fired power station elsewhere in Botswana.
Two other bidders, KS Energy and Sekaname Pty Ltd, were formerly partners in the joint venture that was awarded the operation and maintenance contract for
the Orapa power station in July 2008.
Sekaname – which trades as Kalahari Energy – and Tuten, a Turkish energy developer, were also contracted to build and supply a 180MW gas-fired power station for the BPC at Mmashoro.
The two developers hold leases over thousands of square kilometres of rich gas fields in eastern Botswana. Ocean Ridge, on the other hand, has nine CBM exploration licences near Orapa, which spill over into Debswana’s mining lease area.
The licences measure 5,357 square kilometres and thus far, the four-year-old company has drilled more than 6, 000 metres of samples.
Whizzer, we don't need Sasha to tell us what is going on.
The BPC collapse explains what is going on. Hindsight is wonderful but I'm trying to find a post that suggested a division of Kalahari became BPC , which confused me at the time.
I found this which seems to answer someone's question about the list of bidders.
I'll post t separatelty (from Lekka) cos it looks too long for the modern message limit.
'Any government with the interest of it's people at heart would have fast tracked everything to get power into the grid.'
!00% right DtE. That it hasn't happened probably comes back, in part, to your point on us not oiling the wheels. Its certainly something I didn't understand enough about when investing in Africa. I'll live and learn (hopefully).
You may be right DtE, things may move quicker if TLOU start paying out to oil the wheels. Personally I would take my money out if I felt that was going on. Were would it stop? Who suffers if the proper procedures aren't followed. One thing that would suffer if it became known and that is the Company and in a far worse way than having to wait another period of time before we get the commercial rates, finance etc. I'll stick with the present situation however long it takes.
Down to earth it’s pretty much what I posted earlier, Botswana don’t seem to want to help themselves else projects like ours would be fast tracked, unfortunately for us it’s likely that we won’t see any meaningful progress any time soon! The bod should have sourced a ppa from another entity outside of Botswana and that’s been their own downfall, they continued to put all their eggs into one basket, we could have obtained a ppa for 2 mw from someone else. It’s a complete farce that we continue to discuss on this message board the ineptitude of the Botswana government and our own bod still, when we should be cracking on with the project! 3 years is a complete joke and a complete waste of everybody’s time. No one knows where we stand at the moment and at what stage negotiations are at!! It could be another 6 months.
This article just highlights the total incompetence of the Bots Government with regards to the ongoing power issue, unfortunately this incompetence will continue until the country runs out of power . Tlou were asked to tender for up to 100MW over 3 years ago! Any government with the interest of it's people at heart would have fast tracked everything to get power into the grid. Unfortunately this will continue to drag on because Botswana have tried to do something about corruption. I'm not advocating corruption, but a contribution here and there can oil the wheels of industry to progress to the end result that benefits everybody. Officials in Botswan are only interested in a stress free job, where decisions are pushed up the line until deferred for another time. Everything the Bots government does seems to be reactive rather than proactive. The government were about appoint a ppa adviser some 12 months after the tenders were returned, why not before? WTF!!!
I know young Whizzer, but I am 100% that much is happening behind the scenes in response to the contents of articles such as that one below. 100% certain.
At some point minor we need to see it in writing, in an rns else it’s just a load of waffle, it can be talked about and talked about till the cows come home but that isnt helping us at all, it’s just hollow words. We need something tangible!! Botswana don’t seem to want to help themselves! If they wanted to help then projects like ours would be approved in double quick time!
Pressing need for Botswana to secure electricity from other in-country sources.
The BPC is bankrupt and could struggle to keep Botswana's lights on. This from Sunday:
https://www.sundaystandard.info/bpc-flat-broke/
The cash strapped Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) has “squashed” the P500 million government rescue package which was meant to tide them over until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now unable to pay salaries.
BPC which is technically insolvent entered the COVID-19 period with its going concern status dependent on a government bail-out. The P500 million government lifeline was however sucked into the blackhole in the parastatal’s balance sheet.Sunday Standard investigations have turned up information suggesting that the power utility is being sunk by poor scenario planning and corruption. It has emerged that the Government P500 million rescue package and the 22% increase in electricity tariffs was based on optimist projections that Morupule B would be operating at 50% capacity with two of its four units on stream.The BPC failed to identify the cash flow crunch ahead of time and leaked millions of pula from the unplanned wholesale importation of expensive electricity.
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Morupule B is currently operating with one unit, and there is growing risk that the South African power utility Eskom may be unable to meet Botswana’s import demands as South African businesses continue to reopen in stages. Responding to Sunday Standard enquiries two weeks ago BPC spokesperson Dineo Seleke confirmed that all the units at Morupule B had broken down.“As the stakeholders are aware, the Morupule B 600MW power station experiences plant reliability and availability challenges from time to time since commission of the plant dating back to 2012,” said Seleke.She added that “the current challenges are not unique, and the Corporation is undertaking the necessary remedial works on the units which are expected back in operation in course of the month (May 2020) 1st Unit, June 2020 and July 2020 for the 2nd and 3rd Unit.”
According to Seleke, long term remedial works on the 4th Unit are at an advanced stage with construction works over 90% complete.“The next step is commissioning works which have been impacted by the COVID 19 world-wide travel restrictions as the commissioning personnel are based in China,” she said.