Botswana's Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources has retained Netherlands consulting firm Sewell & Associates (NSA) to develop a national strategy that will assist both government and the private sector as they seek to develop the 30-trillion to 40-trillion cubic feet of coal-bed methane (CBM) gas deposits in the Southern African country.
The Ministry has indicated that the roadmap developed for the CBM gas sector will investi-gate suitable methods of extracting CBM gas from coal seams for power generation and exports.
“The project is expected to formulate a strategy on how this country can sustainably develop the CBM gas industry,” says Minerals, Energy and Water Resources Minister Kitso Mokaila. NSA will be funded by the World Bank.
The Ministry is also in the process of amend-ing the Mines and Minerals Act to enable the extraction of CBM gas, which has a low carbon footprint.
In an interview with Mining Weekly, the Ministry's deputy permanent secretary, Nchidzi Mmolawa, says companies are at an advanced exploration stage, with pilot wells being tested. Tlou Energy, Karoo Sustainable Energy, Nata Energy, Anglo Coal, Rainbow Gas & Coal are some of the companies prospecting for CBM gas in the country.
The Botswana government has indicated that drilling undertaken to date has confirmed CBM has potential to be a significant contributor to the future energy mix of the country.
The Ministry has expressed optimism that the roadmap developed specifically for the sector will provide the guidelines on and timelines for how the massive gas deposits can be commercialised.