Electricity network covers entire region of Southern Mozambique

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Electricity network covers entire region of Southern Mozambique

6:47 CAT | 18 Jul 2017

Notícias

The entire southern region of Mozambique is covered by the national electricity grid following the opening of a substation at Dzimbene, in the district of Bilene in Gaza province.

The substation, which has a capacity of 500 MVA, was inaugurated by President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday during his three-day visit to the province. It was funded through 69 million euros in mixed credit. The term mixed credit comes from the fact that the programme mixes traditional grant aid and commercial loans.

According to Monday’s issue of the daily newspaper “Noticias”, the opening of the substation will contribute significantly to the local economy. In its initial phase, the objective of the project is to increase the availability of power in the southern region, allowing access to electricity to both domestic and industrial clients.

Arone Malendze, the project manager of the publicly owned electricity company EDM, explained that the new capacity will also enable the network in Gaza and Inhambane provinces to better withstand sudden drops in supply due to localised power cuts or maintenance. The new substation will thus improve the stability of the network which is currently supported by thesubstations at Mapai, Lionde, Chicumbane, Lindela and Massinga. It will also reduce the amount of energy lost during transmission.

Malendze noted that construction work is also taking place to modify and amplify the electricity supply in the provinces of Inhambane, Nampula (in the north of the country), and Zambezia (in the centre), which should be concluded next year. He added that this includes the building of another substation in Beluluane, in Maputo province, with a capacity of 440 MVA, which will contribute to the development of the Beluluane Industrial Park.

On 12 July, Mozambique and Germany signed an agreement under which 15 million euros will be made available for this project to improve the electricity supply to the Beluluane Industrial Park and residential areas in Matola. It will involve the construction of the new substation and a new low tension network for the industrial park.

Whilst much is being done to improve the delivery of electricity, efforts are still being made to increase the overall supply. On Saturday, President Filipe Nyusi also inaugurated the Kuvaninga gas fired power plant station in Macarretane. This will supply 40 megawatts of energy to the southern region. Various other projects, including the Mapai power plant, are in the pipeline to increase the supply even further.

Source: AIM