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THE historic announcement by government last week that the extraction of coal-bed methane gas in Lupane has started is game-changer as it means that the country’s energy needs might soon be met. It comes after years of exploratory work by different companies. Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa said on Wednesday last week that the $600 million project could add at least 300 megawatts to the national electricity grid. Addressing delegates to the 2014 Mine Entra Conference in Bulawayo, Minister Chidhakwa said: “We have started pumping the gas out of Lupane, a true historical moment . . . the gas will be used for the production of energy and fertiliser. We also see the significant development of the petrol-chemical industry as we purify the gas.

“And what do we do with the gas? The first thing is the production of power. The Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the proprietors of the project intend to expand the project. We now need to do extensive drilling so that we can extract more gas to generate more power.”

According to an exploration exercise by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), extensive deposits of coal-bed methane gas in the Hwange-Lupane basin are estimated to be over 23 billion cubic feet per square mile or 27 trillion cubic feet.

The methane gas project is touted as a huge opportunity to ease the country’s growing energy deficit. The country is currently generating enough power to meet only half of its peak 2,200 megawatt demand. The agriculture sector, characterised by the unavailability of sufficient and competitively priced fertiliser, will benefit from the project as coal-bed methane gas will be used in the manufacture of cheap fertiliser.

The gas fields in Lupane go as far as 850 metres deep meaning a lot of drilling will be required to extract the mineral but the good quality of the gas justifies the investment outlay.

Besides gas for electricity generation, coal-bed methane can be used to produce a variety of chemicals, gas to liquids producing diesel, specialist lubricants and waxes.

In recent decades, methane gas has become an important source of energy in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries and Zimbabwe is certainly moving in the right direction by exploiting this clean energy source.

In the region, South Africa’s Eskom Holdings Ltd, the state-owned power utility, is spending 105 billion rand ($10 billion) developing the 4,800-megawatt Medupi coal-fired plant while Mozambique has become a prominent destination for energy investment as it looks to develop the largest natural-gas find in a decade.

Unlike much natural gas from conventional reservoirs, coal-bed methane contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such as propane or butane.

Africa Sunlight Energy Ltd, one of the companies exploring methane gas in the Gwayi area, has said it plans to invest as much as $2.1 billion developing coal mines and building a 2,100-megawatt plant powered by the fuel in the country to help ease electricity shortages.

The company, a venture between Old Stone Investments Ltd of Zimbabwe and Shandong Taishan Sunlight of China, said last year it would start with capacity to produce 300 megawatts by mid-2015 and raise this to 600 megawatts by the end of that year.

The company has spent $20 million on exploration. The company wants to start a programme piloting methane gas for domestic use in Hwange and with time extend this to Bulawayo with the projects expected to create 4,500 jobs.

So the announcement by government that gas extraction has started is exciting news to the people of Lupane and Matabeleland in general as this will contribute significantly to the development of the area. We urge the companies working in the area to employ locals and contribute to the upliftment of their standards of living.