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Mozambique is currently assessing three new coal fired power plants – deputy minister
7:31 CAT | 25 Oct 2018
File photo; AFP
The Mozambican government expects to complete in early 2019 studies on the building of three coal fired power plants, including their environmental impact, the deputy minister of Energy and Mineral Resources has told Lusa.
Tete, in the western interior of the country, Cuamba in the north, and Nacala on the north coast, are three of the places where of opting for coal is a possibility, he said.
In Tete, the option appears to be associated with the existing mines, while Cuamba could benefit from the fact that it is on the rail line that carries the coal to the port of Nacala, which in turn is a region without other nearby sources of electricity production.
“At the moment, we have three or four feasibility studies [under development] for coal-fired power plants” Augusto de Sousa says. Pollution will be addressed: “Being recent studies, they take into account the environmental issue.”
The deputy minister believes that it is necessary to “find a balance” between energy production and environmental impact.
Because of ongoing mining activity, Tete has the greatest potential to produce electricity from coal, but “for environmental reasons it is also difficult to get bank financing”.
“We have to move to less polluting technologies,” de Sousa said, pointing to the example of Japan that already has coal-fired power plants with less environmental impact, and with whom Mozambique has already initiated contacts to find out if it can import this technology.
In a report released this month, experts from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for rapid and unprecedented measures to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Source: Lusa
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