adminPresident Filipe Nyusi recently inaugurated a gas fired power station, with the capacity to generate 120 megawatts, in Ressano Garcia, on the border with South Africa. The power station cost around US$200 million, raised by the Mozambican company Gigawatt (owned by Mozambican and South African shareholders). The station has 13 generators, each capable of generating 9.5 megawatts.
The power will all be sold to the publicly owned electricity company, EDM. The Gigawatt power station can supply 24 per cent of the electricity needs of southern Mozambique (excluding the MOZAL aluminium smelter). With Mozambique’s recent economic growth of seven per cent or so a year, there has been a surge in demand for electricity.
This cannot be met solely by the power that EDM purchases from the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi. Hence the need for gas-fired power stations, and even for imports of electricity from South Africa. While a gas-fired station can never be as cheap Cahora Bassa power, the price EDM pays for the Gigawatt power is 40 per cent lower than the price of imports from South Africa.
The natural gas is provided by the Matola Gas Company (MGC), and comes from a branch off the main pipeline that carries gas from the Temane and Pande fields in Inhambane province to Secunda in South Africa.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Nyusi stressed that the new power station results from a partnership between the government and the private sector, and bears witness to the importance of public/private partnerships.
“The development of quality economic and social infrastructures is determinant for ensuring the well-being of the population and as a basis for increasing productive activity. It is thus one of the priorities of our governance”, said President Nyusi.
Mozambique has enormous energy potential, the President stressed, and the sustainable development of the various forms of power generation can be a source of revenue for the state and a catalyst for industrialisation.
“This undertaking will improve access to energy for domestic, agricultural and industrial consumption, providing greater security of supply, and reducing dependence on outside sources”, he said.
The new power station, he continued, is in line with the government’s Five Year Programme in its call for diversifying sources of power generation.
Other aspects of the government’s energy programme, said the President, include completing a 40 megawatt gas fired power station at Kavaninga in Chokwe district, Gaza province, and beginning later this year another gas-fired station in Maputo City, with a 100 megawatt capacity. At the same time, the transmission system will be overhauled to end the repeated power cuts in the southern region.
In the central region, the rehabilitation of EDM’s own hydro-electric power stations at Chicamba and Mavuzi on the Revue River is scheduled to be concluded this year.
Increasing the capacity of the key Matombo sub-station in Tete province is also scheduled for this year, and of the Chibata sub-station in Manica for 2017.
In the north of the country, Nyusi stressed the new 115 megawatt power station that will soon be functioning in the northern port of Nacala, and the stations based on solar power at Mocuba, in Zambezia province (40 megawatts), and at Metoro in Cabo Delgado (30 megawatts).
The chairperson of the Gigawatt-Mozambique board, Castigo Langa, said the new power station “meets the highest international standards”. He noted that, under the terms of the Power Purchase Agreement between Gigawatt and EDM, the electricity generated can both be used in Mozambique and sold on to the regional network of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). — AIM.
President Filipe Nyusi recently inaugurated a gas fired power station, with the capacity to generate 120 megawatts, in Ressano Garcia, on the border with South Africa. The power station cost around US$200 million, raised by the Mozambican company Gigawatt (owned by Mozambican and South African shareholders). The station has 13 generators, each capable of generating 9.5 megawatts.The power will all be sold to the publicly owned electricity company, EDM. The Gigawatt power station can supply 24 per cent of the electricity needs of southern Mozambique (excluding the MOZAL aluminium smelter).With Mozambique’s recent economic growth of seven per cent or so a year, there has been a surge in demand for electricity. This cannot be met solely by the power that EDM purchases from the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi. Hence the need for gas-fired power stations, and even for imports of electricity from South Africa. While a gas-fired station can never be as cheap Cahora Bassa power, the price EDM pays for the Gigawatt power is 40 per cent lower than the price of imports from South Africa.The natural gas is provided by the Matola Gas Company (MGC), and comes from a branch off the main pipeline that carries gas from the Temane and Pande fields in Inhambane province to Secunda in South Africa.Speaking at the ceremony, President Nyusi stressed that the new power station results from a partnership between the government and the private sector, and bears witness to the importance of public/private partnerships.“The development of quality economic and social infrastructures is determinant for ensuring the well-being of the population and as a basis for increasing productive activity. It is thus one of the priorities of our governance”, said President Nyusi.Mozambique has enormous energy potential, the President stressed, and the sustainable development of the various forms of power generation can be a source of revenue for the state and a catalyst for industrialisation.“This undertaking will improve access to energy for domestic, agricultural and industrial consumption, providing greater security of supply, and reducing dependence on outside sources”, he said.The new power station, he continued, is in line with the government’s Five Year Programme in its call for diversifying sources of power generation.Other aspects of the government’s energy programme, said the President, include completing a 40 megawatt gas fired power station at Kavaninga in Chokwe district, Gaza province, and beginning later this year another gas-fired station in Maputo City, with a 100 megawatt capacity. At the same time, the transmission system will be overhauled to end the repeated power cuts in the southern region.In the central region, the rehabilitation of EDM’s own hydro-electric power stations at Chicamba and Mavuzi on the Revue River is scheduled to be concluded this year. Increasing the capacity of the key Matombo sub-station in Tete province is also scheduled for this year, and of the Chibata sub-station in Manica for 2017.In the north of the country, Nyusi stressed the new 115 megawatt power station that will soon be functioning in the northern port of Nacala, and the stations based on solar power at Mocuba, in Zambezia province (40 megawatts), and at Metoro in Cabo Delgado (30 megawatts).The chairperson of the Gigawatt-Mozambique board, Castigo Langa, said the new power station “meets the highest international standards”. He noted that, under the terms of the Power Purchase Agreement between Gigawatt and EDM, the electricity generated can both be used in Mozambique and sold on to the regional network of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). — AIM.
Online Reporter