The Council of Ministers approved two electricity and natural gas processing projects in Maputo province. These include the construction of a 2,000 MW gas-fired power plant in Beluluane Industrial Park, Boane district, and the installation of a facility for the storage, regasification and export of liquefied natural gas in Matola Port.
The two projects, to be built within the next five years, are valued at US$2.8 billion and will generate 1,700 jobs during construction and 1,050 permanent jobs thereafter, according to Ana Comoana, spokeswoman for the 24th Council of Ministers session.
Comoana added that the projects include the construction of a gas pipeline linking the Port of Matola and Beluluane Industrial Park, where the gas-fired plant will generate energy from natural gas, in volumes close to the production of Cahora Bassa.
Deputy General Manager of Beluluane Industrial Park Onório Manuel said that the infrastructure will support future developments and the arrival of more investors in Beluluane Industrial Park.
“We want to be prepared to host all kinds of industries including light, heavy and downstream aluminum. We therefore improved our energy capacity to be able to receive new investors and enable the existing ones to increase their productivity,” said Manuel.
The decrees grant the company Beluluane Gas Company, SA a 30-year concession for the financing, construction and operation of the projects, namely the sale and export of electricity and or natural gas.
Ana Comoana said this was a Foreign Direct Investment, without specifying the origin. However, information recently provided by the Agency for Investment and Export Promotion (APIEX) indicates that the project is promoted by national and foreign investors who want to produce electricity so as to, in a first phase, to supply South Africa and other southern African markets.
In the first phase, the plant will use imported gas, but will use gas from the Rovuma Basin projects when they become operational.
Source: Noticias / Club of Mozambique
