Botswana expects Mmamabula contracts to be signed soon
A Botswana government official said on Tuesday that he hoped that the contracts for the power tariffs and construction of the 2 400 MW Mmamabula power plant to be built in the country would be signed "within the next month of so".
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines, Akolang Tombale, said that the project was expected to cost between $6-billion and $10,5-billion, and that cost increases for the construction of the project had been "enormous".
Engineering News Online reported earlier this year that the developer of the project, Canada's CIC Energy wanted to first conclude a definitive agreement with a selected engineering and construction partner before it would be in a position to sign power purchase agreements with either the South African power utility, Eskom, or the Botswana Power Corporation.
At the time, the company was still engaging with a short-listed group of potential engineering, procurement and construction consortia, which would be contracted by CIC Energy to develop the project on a turnkey basis.
The company announced in January that the schedule for the Mmamabula project would be delayed by about six months. It said strong demand for power plant builds, and the prevailing engineering resource constraints, were increasing lead times for power plant equipment and construction services.
Financial close for the first phase of the project was now expected in the fourth quarter of 2008, followed immediately with the start of construction in the same quarter.
This would push the commercial operation of the first unit of the power station to late 2012, or early 2013. The second and third units would come online at six-month intervals following the first unit.
