Mozambique: Zambia negotiating purchase of more electricity

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Mozambique: Zambia negotiating purchase of more electricity

7:00 CAT | 18 Mar 2024

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

Zambian state-owned electricity company ZESCO is in negotiations with its counterpart Electricity of Mozambique (EDM) to increase the electricity it buys from the neighbouring country to 120 MegaWatts (MW), said Zambian Energy Minister Peter Kapala.

“ZESCO is actively engaged with Mozambique’s EDM for an increase in firm power imports to a further 120 MW,” said the Zambian energy minister, quoted in the country’s press on Friday.

He added that Zambia currently imports 50 to 90 MW of energy from Mozambique, which it now intends to increase in order to meet demand while also moving ahead with the gradual withdrawal of 120 MW of energy from its export market, which it sells through bilateral contracts, a plan to be implemented by December 2024.

“It is important to note that this plan will translate into a loss of revenue of $110 million [€101 million],” said Kapala.
EDM announced last October that it would “resume selling electricity” to Zambia through its counterpart ZESCO, according to a contract that could reach 250 MW signed in Luanda.

According to the agreement signed between the chairman of EDM’s board of directors, Marcelino Gildo Alberto, and ZESCO’s director general, Victor Benjamin Mapani, this is a Power Supply Agreement (PSA) that “makes possible” the “firm” sale to the neighbouring country of 50 MW during off-peak hours and a further 200 MW “non-firm”.

On the other hand, the two parties also renewed the agreement to extend the period of cross-border energy supply to the town of Zumbo, in Tete province, in this case from Zambia.

The two agreements, according to EDM, were initialled today on the sidelines of the 55th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP), taking place in Luanda, Angola.

The chairman of EDM’s board of directors recalled that Mozambique has an installed capacity of 2,790 MW, of which it absorbs 1,057 MW for peak domestic demand.

“We, therefore, have a considerable surplus that we offer for sale on the energy export market, through bilateral agreements and on the competitive SAPP market. In this way, we want to cement our strategic position as a regional power generation centre, bringing more foreign exchange to the country,” said Marcelino Gildo Alberto on the same occasion.

Source: Lusa