Minister calls for increased power generation – AIM

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Minister calls for increased power generation – AIM

7:38 CAT | 19 Jun 2017

File photo/ Letícia Klemens Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy

Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Leticia Klemens, on Monday urged the country’s electricity company, EDM, to step up production, encouraging public and private investment in electricity generation projects.

Klemens also wanted to see further interconnections with other countries of SADC (Southern African Development Community), which would allow EDM to export any electricity surplus.

She was speaking in Maputo at the opening of a seminar on drafting the Energy Integrated Master Plan, covering the period from 2018 to 2043.

This master plan, Klemens said, “should allow the vast energy resources that Mozambique possesses, including the enormous hydro-power potential, the reserves of natural gas and coal, and renewable sources, to make the country a point of reference for energy production, in the region and in the world, with tangible benefits for its citizens”.

Like the government’s energy policy and strategy, now being updated, the master plan should cover increased access to electricity inside the country, the contribution of electricity to industrialisation and the export of power, improving Mozambique’s balance of payments.

The master plan should also provide the key information necessary to mobilise finance for its implementation, Klemens added, and should be a catalyst for the involvement of private business in power generation. This could be achieved through identifying and prioritising projects, including defining terms and conditions for independent energy producers.

Alongside technical and economic aspects, the Minister continued, the master plan should pay due attention to staff training and to institutional capacity building, given the fulcral role of human resources in implementing electricity projects.

Source: AIM