Mozambique: Construction of new solar power plant begins

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Mozambique: Construction of new solar power plant begins

4:25 CAT | 23 Oct 2020

in file CoM

President Filipe Nyusi today placed the foundation stone of the Metoro Solar Power Plant in Ancuabe district, Cabo Delgado province, a project budgeted at US$56 million (€47 million).

The plant, which is expected to be completed within nine months, will produce 41 megawatts (MWp) from solar panels, sufficient to supply the needs of about 150,000 consumers. It will be connected to the Mozambique Electricity [EDM] substation in Metoro, Ancuabe, the project presentation released to the media details.

The French Neoen and EDM are shareholders of the project – with 75% and 25% respectively – with funding provided by the French Development Agency (AFD), with a loan of $40 million (€34 million), and the remainder by the Mozambican government.

According to the project’s presentation document, after 25 years the infrastructure will be handed over to EDM.

It is estimated that the plant will create up to 380 jobs in the construction phase and invest at least US$60,000 annually in projects for local communities.

“A needs and dynamics assessment in Metoro and Ancuabe was carried out in 2016, and a preliminary Community Development Plan was approved by the Ancuabe District Government in June 2018, with a focus on the area of education,” the document details.

The solar plant will be located 90 kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado in the north of the country, next to National Road Number 1 (EN1).

The enterprise is being built in a province that has for three years been the scene of armed attacks by forces classified as terrorists, although there are have been no incursions in the area where the plant will be located.

Armed violence in Cabo Delgado has affected districts located further north in the province.

In all, the Mozambican government and relief organisations, notably UN agencies, point to a total of 300,000 displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado.

Estimates of the number of casualties range from 1,000 to 2,000 victims.

Source: Lusa