Mozambique: Government wants EDM to supply electricity to Mozal directly – Watch

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Mozambique: Government wants EDM to supply electricity to Mozal directly – Watch

9:30 CAT | 16 Jul 2025

Photo: Conselho Executivo Provincial de Sofala

Mozambique’s government said on Tuesday that energy supplies to Mozal aluminium smelter remain secure, adding that it only wants state-owned Eletricidade de Moçambique – EDM to guarantee them.

“It is in our interest that Mozal continues to have sufficient energ. By our interest, I mean, the interest of the government. It is also in the government’s interest that EDM becomes the energy supplier,” said the spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, at the end of the Cabinet meeting held yesterday in Beira city, central Sofala province.

“Today, we make the contract directly, and we want to introduce the ’player’, which is EDM, the entity responsible for marketing the energy produced by our hydroelectric plant [in Cahora Bassa – HCB]. We must finalise certain details for this purpose,” added the Cabinet spokesman.

South Africa’s Eskom supplies electricity to Mozal, based in Maputo province, southern Mozambique. In turn, Eskom buys energy from HCB, 66% of the total produced in 2024, which operates in central Mozambique, while Mozambique’s government plans to change this scenario.

According to Inocêncio Impissa, “a transition from the current energy supplier is necessary so that EDM can take over the commercial arm” of the business, involving one of Mozambique’s largest exporters.

“So, the parties still need to discuss these terms, and Mozal will certainly secure the energy it needs, because it is an industry that serves not only Mozal’s interest, but above all the interest of Mozambicans (…)” It employs Mozambicans, there are taxes that go into the Mozambican budget, and there are advantages to having Mozal there,” he said, assuming that it is in everyone’s “interest” to “maintain and ensure that energy is supplied continuously” to the aluminium smelter.

READ: South32 flags impairment of Mozambique aluminium smelter

Mozambique: New power supply contract priority for Mozal

Minic.beira_.fb_ — *This Tuesday’s Cabinet session was held in Beira, capital of Sofala province. [Photo: Conselho Executivo Provincial de Sofala]*

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo confirmed on 23 June that he will move forward with the energy reversal process, concluding the contract for the supply of electricity produced in Mozambique to South Africa’s Eskom, which has been in force since 1979.

“In 2025, in addition to implementing rehabilitation projects, HCB, looking ahead to the energy reversal planned for 2030”, Mozambique will take control of its energy generation with the end of the contract with Eskom, it must consolidate its role in Mozambique’s energy development,” said the head of state in his speech, thus confirming the intention already signalled by the previous government.

Lusa reported in February 2024 that Mozambique’s government intends to “repatriate” from 2030, for domestic use, the electricity it has been exporting from HCB to South Africa since 1979, as stated in the Energy Transition Strategy in Mozambique until 2050. The document sets this objective for 2030: “The main short-term water priority is repatriating electricity from HCB, currently exported to South Africa (8-10 terawatt-hours), and adding 2 gigawatts of new national hydroelectric capacity by 2031”.

It also recalls that the HCB plant is the “most important in Mozambique”, with a total installed capacity of 2,075 megawatts, and the Mozambican state majority-owns it.

“Since the start of operations in 1979, HCB has exported most of its electricity production to the South African state-owned company Eskom, with a smaller portion supplied to EDM.” HCB’s electricity is cheap and clean,” the document reads, adding: “In 2030, the Power Purchase Agreement between HCB and Eskom will come to an end and important decisions will have to be made.”

READ: Mozambique seeks to end 50-year South Africa hydropower pact – Bloomberg

Mozal aluminium smelter operates on the outskirts of Maputo, in southern Mozambique, drawing electricity from Eskom under a supply contract that also expires in 2026. The arrangement reflects the unique characteristics of the Mozambican electricity grid, and Mozal is one of the largest electricity consumers in the country, with a demand of 900 megawatts.

South32 ,headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, holds a 63.7% share in Mozal Aluminium, having increased its stake by 16.6% in May 2022. The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa owns 32.4%, while the Government of the Republic of Mozambique holds a 3.9% stake through preference shares.