Peter Grant, the non-executive director for Botala Energy, has said his company is planning to start gas production within the Serowe area in a year’s time.
“We are intending to start production within 12 month,” Grant said at the listing of Botala Energy on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday.
Botala Energy, a gas and solar energy developer, made maiden dual listing on the BSE as part of its vision to deepen its roots in Botswana.
The company is foraging some coal bed methane (CBM) seams to try and get gas in a 420 km2 area near Serowe. It is emboldened by the results from the seven wells which are between 40- to- 50 kilometers from Serowe village where is has embarked on a series of gas-flaring- next one is schedule for next week Thursday.
“We want to produce CBM (Coal Bed Methane) and use it to generate reliable and affordable electricity, to supplement that solar generated electricity we proposed to develop in Serowe and proposed Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park. We also plan to build solar panel manufacturing plant,” the company has said.
Leupane is six kilometers shy-off from Palapye – from the A1 road.
“We have drilled less than half of our area. The results are very good. In the seven wells that we have drilled, independent consultants estimate the reserves to be 320 billion cubic feet (8.96 trillion kg) of gas underground.
“It is not us who are saying that. Consultants we engaged from Canada,” Botala Energy Chairman, Wolf Martinick has said.
“I think the whole area could probably be up to 8 trillion cubic feet(224 trillion kg),” he said.
The company is aiming to build 700 MW power station to prime Botswana as a power hub of the southern African region.
“We have to make Serowe/Palapye the electricity export power house,” he added.
Botala Energy will start by building a 20 MW station that will be powered by the existing wells and the solar farm that will be nearby in Serowe.
By 2026 the company expects to be in full production and will bring on stream the Leapane solar farm.