Just in: Mozambique to supply South Africa with 100MW from Nacala floating power plant – Minister in Pretoria

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Just in: Mozambique to supply South Africa with 100MW from Nacala floating power plant – Minister in Pretoria

6:13 CAT | 12 Jun 2023

Photo: Twitter / @Kgosientsho_R

The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias, announced today the immediate availability of 100 MW of electricity to South Africa, a country experiencing a severe power supply deficit, a press release from the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy reads.

The announcement was made this Monday in Pretoria after a request made on May 29 in Maputo by the South African government.

“The Mozambican government has available – immediately – 100 MW of energy produced through the Nacala Floating Power Plant [Karpowership], and the commercial agreement that will define the price, transport mechanisms and start of energy channelling should be closed very soon,” Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Carlos Zacarias said.

For his part, Kgosientsho Ramokgoba, Minister of Electricity in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa, expressed his gratitude, declaring himself “happy” with the Government of Mozambique’s swift response.

“We expected 80MW and today we received the promise of 100 MW, with technicians working to make operations viable,” Ramokgoba said, underlining that the energy would reduce the high costs of the current supply deficit to the South African economy.

At the meeting in Pretoria, Carlos Zacarias also announced that Mozambique would within six months have available a further 600 MW of energy from the Floating Power Station in Maputo and the Thermal Power Station in Ressano Garcia.

Mozambique, a country with a diverse energy matrix, is working to make energy viable through various ongoing projects, with an emphasis on the Temane Thermal Power Station (CTT), which will produce 450 MW from January, 2025, using natural gas from Pande and Temane in Inhambane.

This project will increase installed capacity in 2024 to 975 MW. Taking into account the 260 MW increase in demand since 2014, Mozambique should have a surplus of around 700 MW after meeting the country’s internal needs.

The planned Mpanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project, situated downstream from Cahora Bassa, is expected to generate 1500 MW of electricity per annum, from 2030.

South Africa is the main buyer of electricity from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant, under an agreement in effect until 2029.

[IN PICTURES]: The meeting is a follow up to a previous bilateral engagement that explored the possibility of securing energy from Mozambique in the short to medium term. https://t.co/8OyEFQvrq3 pic.twitter.com/QS8AXsSDPk

— Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (@Kgosientsho_R) June 12, 2023

[BILATERAL]: The meeting sought to finalise those initial discussions to secure electricity for South Africa to ease the frequency and severity of loadshedding. The meeting also discussed a long term cooperation with Mozambique on energy matters. pic.twitter.com/th1e2aP3WU

— Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (@Kgosientsho_R) June 12, 2023