Mozambique’s Prime Minister, Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, announced yesterday that construction works for the country’s largest thermal power plant will start in the second half of this year in the town of Temane, located in the southern province of Inhambane.
“This thermal power plant will be the largest to be built after the independence of our country and will respond to the challenge of increasing the availability of energy for the needs of economic and social development “, with the creation of jobs, “above all for young people” said the Prime Minister in a parliament session.
The Temane Thermal Power Plant will produce 420 megawatts and will run on natural gas.
The Prime Minister’s announcement comes two weeks after South African state oil company Sasol announced a final investment decision of around US$760M in the region, as we have reported earlier (link below).
Also read: Sasol to invest US$760M in Mozambique
In August 2019, the Mozambican government signed financing agreements with international institutions worth US$530M for the construction of the 563-kilometer line that will connect that plant to Maputo.
A year later, in September 2020, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced a US$200M loan for the construction of the plant and for a 25-kilometer line in the province of Inhambane.
The Mozambican Prime Minister also announced for the second half of 2021, the project of the Mozambique-Malawi interconnection line, connecting Matambo, in the province of Tete, to the neighbouring country.
The initiative signifies “the regional integration strategy, which aims to consolidate Mozambique’s position as an energy hub”.
The Prime Minister went to add that by the end of March it will be concluded “the implantation of the first 367 km stretch of the backbone of the 400 kilovolts (kv) transport system connecting Chimuara to Alto Molocué, in the central province of Zambézia”.
By the end of the year, “the 110 kilovolt transmission line connecting Chibabava, in Sofala, to Vilanculo in Inhambane, should be ready, with an expansion and reinforcement component for the electrical distribution network,” he concluded.
In addition to supplying power to the industry and companies, the Mozambican government plans to reach two million new domestic connections, benefiting more than 10 million people by 2024 – thus achieving an energy access ratio increase – from 34% to 64% of the country’s 30 million population with energy at their homes.
