- Mozambique aims to position itself as Africa’s biggest hydropower producer.
- Mozambique is currently overseeing the construction of the 1,500-megawatt, $5 billion Mphanda Nkuwa dam.
Mozambique aims to position itself as Africa’s biggest hydropower producer. The country has rich hydropower, wind, solar, and natural gas resources.
The government has ambitious plans to add 14,000 megawatts of hydropower capacity, primarily concentrated between 2030 and 2040, according to a 60-page Energy Transition Strategy obtained by Bloomberg.
At the core of the proposal is the Zambezi River, Africa’s fourth longest. Mozambique, which already operates the 2,075-megawatt Cahora Bassa power plant on the river, is currently overseeing the construction of the 1,500-megawatt, $5 billion Mphanda Nkuwa dam led by a consortium including TotalEnergies SE and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp.
Recently, there were reports that the country is considering ending a 50-year hydropower supply agreement with South Africa. The plan is to redirect the 1,150 megawatts of power currently sold to South Africa from its Cahora Bassa plant for domestic use.
Such an expansion would allow Mozambique to compete with Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the provision of power from hydro resources. Ethiopia built a giant hydropower plant on the Blue Nile, while Congo has long proposed constructing Grand Inga, which would potentially be the world’s biggest hydro project.
The government, which repeatedly stressed the need for private investment due to its inability to self-fund such programs, also wants to establish industrial parks to use clean energy. Billions of dollars in expected revenue from natural gas projects in the north of the country are anticipated to transform the economy. However, an Islamist militant insurgency has delayed construction.