Modern Mining July 2025

ENERGY

Botala Dual listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange. On the left is Tsametse Mmolai, Head of Listings and Trading, Botswana Stock Exchange, centre is Botala Non-Executive Director Peter Grant and right is Botswana Country Manager Modisana Botsile.

Prestart safety meeting.

is also in development. The company has inked a partnership with Solar Finland to establish photovoltaic (pv) Solar Panel Manufacturing facility in Botswana using Solar Finland’s SolaTM technology. Further to this, with an eye to advancing its hydrogen aspirations, Botala Energy has also partnered with Pure Hydrogen. “The collaboration with Pure Hydrogen allows both companies to focus on their respective strengths while working closely together. Pure Hydrogen is developing an innovative hydrogen technology which, once proven, will be implemented in Botswana. Our primary focus is on extracting gas and developing solar projects, with hydrogen projects being a secondary arm of the business.” While the CBM project developer has a highly attractive portfolio of assets, it remains grossly undervalued amongst its peers, Martinick says. “We have a fantastic project pipeline, situated in an extremely favourable jurisdiction equipped with a well-educated and well trained community.” Community development The Serowe project will do much to alleviate Botswana’s high unemployment rate, which stands at around 25%. However, Martinick is quick to explain that most of the employment will arise from secondary opportunities associated with the project. “For every job we create upwards of six indirect jobs will be developed such as cleaners, security guards, etc. Botala remains highly engaged with the host community, working together to unlock further job opportunities. We have established a company called Grow and Eat, which targets market gardens, and are collaborating with the local community in purifying wastewater from our processes for use in crop farming. We see these initiatives being highly impactful in the community, being more than just the gas extraction.” “One percent of the revenue stream from the 4MW solar project will go towards social initiatives, including the SOS orphanage in Serowe. The Martinick family are strong backers of the orphanage.” n

the six-months of detailed engineering, and expect to begin commercial gas delivery just after the onset of the gas cliff in South Africa with an initial tranche of 3,5 petajoules per annum of gas.” Although Botala Energy has the option to establish a pipeline to transport gas to South Africa, the preference currently is to truck the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Johannesburg, 650 kilometres away. “Botala’s ability to recover clean energy from its flagship CBM project is a fantastic opportunity that should encourage investors to participate in project development. Once in production, the Serowe project is set to have an enormous impact on the region, satisfying some of Botswana’s and South Africa’s energy needs. Apart from creating jobs, the gas resource allows Botswana, a landlocked country, the opportunity to open new trading avenues in southern and central Africa.” Solar and hydrogen offering In recognition of the global transition to renewable energy, Botala is developing the following opportunities in addition to its main focus on CBM exploration and development: • Serowe Energy Hub: proposal for a 20 MW solar/gas hybrid plant to feed electricity into a nearby substation, and • Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park: proposal for: • Leupane Energy Hub: Targeting a 700 MW solar/gas hybrid plant near the Morupule power station to feed electricity into the domestic and Southern African Development Community (SADC) networks via the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), and • Leupane Industrial Park: to provide space and services (adjacent to the Leupane Energy Hub) for new-age industries attracted by reliable and affordable energy, its favourable geographic location with access to the SADC markets and its ports for export to Asia and Europe, attractive investment climate, presence of a skilled work force, and access to research facilities. In partnership with Serowe Solar Consortium, Botala Energy recently won a tender to develop the four MW Phuthi Solar PV plant in the Serowe Energy Hub. A 250-megawatt solar project

26  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | JULY 2025