By Duncan Ferris
Date: Thursday 15 Feb 2018
LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Tlou Energy's shares fell over 20% on Thursday after the company reported that the Botswanan government cancelled their tender for coalbed methane-fueled (CBM) power plants due to non-compliance.
The company has met with the Ministry of Mineral Resources Green Technology and Energy Security to discuss the cancellation of Tlou's plans, which had included an outlined development commencing with power generation of up to 10MW.
In a statement, Tlou Energy said: "The Ministry outlined that neither of the bids received had met their compliance requirements and detailed the areas where bids were non-compliant. The non-compliant areas were discussed, and it was clear that most of them could not be complied with, as the requirements could only be met by a party that was already in commercial operation."
According to the statement, the company will write to the ministry this week, responding to all compliance matters raised, and believes the ministry is "amenable to amending the tender document as required".
"The company is confident that a favourable outcome can be achieved due to the good working relationship with the ministry and the eagerness on both sides to get the CBM industry up and running in Botswana," said the company's statement.
The Brisbane based company said it will continue in its efforts to connect to the Botswana power grid and to secure other regional off-takers who can be supplied via the South African power pool.
As of 1444 GMT, Tlou Energy's share price had dropped 20.55% to 8.74p.