Botswana to accelerate $4 bln coal-to-liquid refinery project
2020-02-06 09:00:48 [Print]
Botswana, which has some of Africa's largest coal reserves, wants to cut harmful carbon emissions but is committed to using its resources for a new coal-to-liquid (CTL) refinery set to come on stream by 2025, the mines minister said on Tuesday.
State-owned firm Botswana Oil (BOL) issued a tender three years ago seeking investors to build the plant, estimated then to cost around $4 billion, as the diamond-rich southern African country seeks to secure its energy supplies.
"The CTL plant is still in its infancy stage, but we believe now it will be accelerated," Lefoko Maxwell Moagi, minister of mineral resources, green technology and energy security said.
Moagi described Botswana's 212 billion coal reserves as "God's gift" and said the CTL project, as well as a 100 megawatt pilot coal bed methane project, were two projects Botswana would fast-track.
Moagi said the government had held preliminary discussions with Sasol, a recognized leader in CTL technology and whose Secunda refinery currently supplies South Africa with millions of litres of synthetic fuel each year.
State-owned firm Botswana Oil (BOL) issued a tender three years ago seeking investors to build the plant, estimated then to cost around $4 billion, as the diamond-rich southern African country seeks to secure its energy supplies.
"The CTL plant is still in its infancy stage, but we believe now it will be accelerated," Lefoko Maxwell Moagi, minister of mineral resources, green technology and energy security said.
Moagi described Botswana's 212 billion coal reserves as "God's gift" and said the CTL project, as well as a 100 megawatt pilot coal bed methane project, were two projects Botswana would fast-track.
Moagi said the government had held preliminary discussions with Sasol, a recognized leader in CTL technology and whose Secunda refinery currently supplies South Africa with millions of litres of synthetic fuel each year.
