• Mozambique intends to become a power generation hub.
• USD 5 billion for the implementation of the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project.
The director of Market Operations at Mozambique’s utility company Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), Luis Ganje, reported that the government is mobilising investments to build new power-generating projects to meet the enormous energy demand in the region.
Luis Ganje, who was speaking to the press in Maputo on 11th October on the side-lines of the 59th General Meeting of the Southern African Power Pool, said that a financial agreement, estimated at USD 5 billion for the implementation of the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project would be reached soon.
According to Luis Ganje, the new hydroelectric facility on the Zambezi River, downstream from the Cahora Bassa dam (HCB) in the central province of Tete, will help to alleviate the regional energy deficit, currently estimated to be 7 GW.
He also pointed to the construction of a 563-kilometre-long new transmission power line between Temane and Maputo and the implementation of the Tete-Maputo line, also known as the “backbone,” which will make it possible to develop integrated electricity infrastructures to support the industrialisation of Mozambique and the region.
Ganje pointed out that “the energy deficit in the region is much greater than the existing capacity produced in Mozambique at the moment. Therefore, Mozambique intends to become a power generation hub to meet the demand for universal access by 2030 and the region’s needs”.