Mozambique: Start-up of Temane gas-fired power plant postponed

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Mozambique: Start-up of Temane gas-fired power plant postponed

3:08 CAT | 10 Jan 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Notícias]

The delay in construction due to Tropical Storm Filipo has delayed the start-up of a gas-fired power plant in southern Mozambique, scheduled for the end of 2024, to the middle of this year, an official source said this Friday.

Temane Thermal Power Plant (CTT) project manager, Eucides Dgedge, explained to Lusa that the passage of Tropical Storm Filipo through Inhassoro in Inhambane province on March 11 and 12 resulted in “delays in the works and consequently in the postponement of the commissioning of the CTT”.

The destruction of 50% of the temporary dock supporting the works made it impossible to “transport the remaining boilers” and caused the barge and tugboat to run aground 20 km from the temporary dock, “thus resulting in delays in the work and consequently in the postponement of the commissioning”, he added.

“Commissioning is expected to begin between the second and third quarters of 2025 and the new operational start-up date for the plant is February 2, 2026,” Dgedge said.

Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM), which is implementing the CTT, together with the other partners, had previously announced that the plant should begin commercial operations in January 2025.

The commercial operation date foreseen is now February, 2026.

“This consequently impacts the start of operations of the two projects that are linked to the CTT project, namely the TTP [Temane Transition Project] and the PSA [Natural Gas Production and Sharing Project],” he concluded.

The CTT is budgeted at US$650 million (€595.2 million) and the Mozambican government expects the project to increase the country’s installed energy production capacity by around 16%, benefiting around 1.5 million families, under the Universal Energy Access Programme, by 2030.

According to the National Institute of Meteorology, severe Tropical Storm Filipo made landfall on 12 March in Inhassoro district heading southwest towards Gaza and Maputo, with wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour.

Mozambique is among the countries most severely affected by global climate change, repeatedly facing floods and tropical cyclones during its rainy season, which runs from October to April.

Source: Lusa