Mozambique: HCB generates more power than planned

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Mozambique: HCB generates more power than planned

7:32 CAT | 06 Nov 2023

File photo: HCB

Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi, in the western Mozambican province of Tete, recorded hydro-power production of 12,120.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first nine months of this year, according to a note published on the HCB website.

This was 14.3 per cent more than planned. The target for the entire year is 14,292 GWh, and the company now believes that, by the end of the year, production will have reached 15,488 GWh.

This, the note says, “will strengthen the strategic position of Mozambique as a regional energy hub”.

In the period under analysis, says the note, HCB invoiced rather more than 52.4 per cent of the revenue planned for the period, while “at the same time it closed successfully the negotiations on adjusting the electricity export tariff”.

The main buyer of HCB power is the South African state electricity company, Eskom, and HCB has long been criticized for selling its power to Eskon far too cheaply. But the HCB note does not reveal what the new tariff is.

The note cites HCB chairperson Tomas Matola as claiming that “These factors, taken together, represent significant gains for the company and for the country. The figures presented will contribute towards making critical investments in equipment in the production chain, and in projects to increase generating capacity, which should reach 4,000 megawatts by 2032”.

HCB is currently in no danger of running out of water. At the beginning of the 2023-2024 rainy season, the reservoir behind the dam was 87 per cent full.

HCB described the level of Cahora Bassa lake as “satisfactory” and, together with careful management, will ensure the generation of electricity until the end of the year.

Source: AIM