PERTH: African Energy Resources Ltd announced the Sese Power (Pty) Limited has received the Generation Licence documentation for the Sese Power Project from the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA).

The  Generation  Licence  allows  the  Sese  Power  Project  to  export  and  sell  225MW  of  power  for  15  years  to  Kalumbila Minerals Limited and Kansanshi Mining Plc in Zambia (both majority owned by First Quantum Minerals Limited), Zimasco (Pvt) Limited in Zimbabwe (owned by Sinosteel) and residual/surplus power to members of the Southern African Power Pool.

The licence may be renewed beyond 15 years or increased above 225MW by application to BERA as per the BERA Act, 2016.

Sese  will  be  applying  for  an  amendment  to  increase  the  licence  to  reflect  the  current  planning  for  300MW  of  generation. The  Generation  License  was  the  final  regulatory  approval  required  for  the  Sese  Project.  The  award  of  the  Generation Licence follows the recent execution of power sales agreements for the first 300MW Stage of the Sese power station.

The Sese Power Project is one of the most advanced major Independent Power Projects in the Southern African region, and is receiving strong interest from major power consumers throughout the region. The Project remains actively engaged with parties seeking to participate in expansion stages beyond the first 300MW.

African Energy owns one third of the Sese JV, which is developing the 300MW Sese Power Station (Sese Project).  Under a joint venture agreement signed in 2014, First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQM) earned a 66.7% interest in the Sese Project, with African Energy owning the balance of 33.3% (Sese JV). The parties contribute pro rata to ongoing costs, however FQM are obliged to arrange all debt financing for the project and loan fund African Energy’s equity contribution.

The Sese JV has completed several technical studies covering mining, coal preparation and power generation. A conceptual study of the proposed power station layout and design has determined that Sese coal is a suitable fuel for  all  common  power  station  boiler  technologies  and  can  readily  meet  the  required  air  quality  and  emissions  standards set in the environmental approvals for the project.

These  studies  have  also  established  the  operating  costs,  capital  costs  and  a  robust  financial  model  for  a  power project and the associated coal mine and coal processing facilities and have demonstrated that power from Sese could be delivered to the large power consumers in the Zambian Copper belt.

Sese JV has executed power sales agreements with Kalumbila Minerals Limited (Zambian subsidiary of FQML) and a Term Sheet with Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, which together would consume the full output of the initial 300MW power station for a period of 15 years.