Aim- and JSE-listed Kibo Mining has finalised a joint venture (JV) agreement with Mozambique energy company Termoeléctrica de Benga regarding the development of the Benga independent power project, in Tete, Mozambique.
This agreement includes the right to build and operate a 150 MW to 300 MW coal-fired power station and is synergistic with Kibo’s other two projects – the Mbeya coal-to-power project, in Tanzania, and the Mabesekwa coal independent power project, in Botswana.
With the JV finalised, a full feasibility study, which includes a prefeasibility study, a definitive feasibility study and an environmental-impact assessment, on Benga is now under way to confirm the project’s commercial and operational viability.
Kibo and Termoeléctrica will hold initial participation interests in the unincorporated JV of 65% and 35% respectively.
Further, formal discussions have started around a power purchase agreement between Kibo and prospective offtakers of the Benga project.
“With letters of comfort for 150 MW from multiple power supply offtakers in place and thermal coal producers stating terms and conditions to supply the plant with necessary coal, we are in a strong position to expedite the development of the Benga project,” says Kibo CEO Louis Coetzee.