Botala eyes 2026 for production

Giving an update on the 1,529-hectare Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park the company is developing, Botala CEO Kris Martinick said the company was looking at gas sales agreements within Botswana and into the region, as well as solar to the Botswana Power Corporation.

He said Botala has completed pre-feasibility work on a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) concept which has the potential to distribute LNG via trucks from the field. The decision to proceed will be based on further engineering work and commercial negotiations while additional options to feed into the existing South African pipeline network are also being assessed.

Botala Energy recently secured environmental approval for the Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park near Palapye, on which it intends to develop a solar plant of up to 500MW and a 200MW Coal-Bed Methane-powered power station. Besides the solar and gas plants, also approved in the environmental licence are supportive batteries for energy storage, gas generators or turbines to provide baseload electricity, and transformers to connect to the national grid.