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Botswana: Saber to Consult Communities On Gas Project
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Saber Energy, a company exploring for unconventional gas fields in Kodibeleng in the Central District, plans to conduct community consultations next month over its proposed gas pipeline linking Kodibeleng to the Mmamabula Energy Project.
The proposed 120-kilometre pipeline will enable Saber to supply CIC Energy's needs when construction of Mmamabula Phase 1 commences. The company is upbeat about prospects of clear rare coal bed methane (CBM) that will produce the first unconventional gas project in SADC and the rest of the African continent.
In an advertisement running in the press this week, Saber Energy announced it had applied for the authorisation of the pipeline in terms of Sections 6 and 7 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act of 2005.
Following this application, there will be consultation kgotla meetings at Shoshong, Kodibeleng, Otse, Makgonene and Poloka villages, which make up the communities of the study area. The meetings are scheduled for August 4 - 7 August 7, 2008.
The pipeline will initially supply coal bed methane to a gas-fired power plant that will supply 40 MW for the construction of the Mmamabula Power Station.
Two gas pipelines are included in the scope of the study, one for the coal gas methane transport CBM, the other to transport water recovered from the gas wells.
The Director of Saber Energy Colin Kinley Saber said in June that from the geology they have investigated so far, there appears to be enough CBM gas and up to 98 percent methane content.
Saber said that an average gas well anywhere in the world lasts for two years, whereas wells in Botswana last up to 25 years, which means "building a long life project". In June, Saber was constructing five pilot wells to get an idea of how economic the project might be in the next few months. Saber Energy is a member of Tau Capital, which owns CIC Energy. Saber is expected to supply gas to Mmamabula, which will begin as a small power station and add more units over time.
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The project was let down by escalating costs, due to notably rising steel prices and tight EPC contractors who want to sign attractive turnkey contracts. Costs in excess of P100 billion led to conflicts over risk allocation.
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