German cooperation and the European Union, through the KFW programme, will donate 68 million euros to the Mozambican state to promote electrification projects in off-grid areas, based on renewable energies.
The guarantee was given recently by the German Ambassador, Ronald Münch, during the announcement of renewable energy auctions, tenders to be launched in the coming months for private operators.
‘German cooperation and the European Union are providing a grant of 68 million euros for the implementation of renewable energy programmes,’ said Münch.
According to the diplomat, the intervention aims to promote the participation of the private sector in the transition to green energy in the country, improving the conditions and incentives for private sector investors, reinforcing the capacity to use renewable energy solutions in the public sector, at a time when the political and regulatory framework is favourable to new investments in the sector.
The initiative will stimulate competition, enabling competitive and favourable tariffs for suppliers and end consumers, boosting the socio-economic impacts of the productive use of energy and ensuring the financial and operational sustainability of electrified communities.
As part of the electrification of off-grid areas, the National Energy Fund (FUNAE) recently installed the photovoltaic plant at the Mahel Administrative Post in Magude district, bringing to a close the cycle of electrification of Administrative Posts in Maputo province, out of a total of 26, 23 of which by Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) through the public grid and three by FUNAE through the off-grid system.
In order to continue improving the coverage and supply of energy in remote areas, FUNAE is investing in the construction of 19 electricity generation mini-grids with a capacity of between 100 and 200MW, a project that should benefit around 7,000 families, as part of the national programme for universal access to energy by 2030.
In the last decade, FUNAE has already invested around six billion meticals (one US dollar is worth around 64 meticals) in off-grid energy projects, in a country where the majority of the rural population still has no access to electricity, despite the government’s efforts to bring power to 51 per cent of the population.
As part of the government’s initiative to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, several electrification projects are underway across the country. One of the projects underway since 2020 is the electrification of 135 administrative post headquarters, 94 of them through the National Electricity Grid (EDM) and 41 through Isolated Systems (FUNAE), the work for which should be completed by the end of this year (2024).
Of the 94 administrative posts, EDM completed the electrification of 50, of which seven in 2020, 19 in 2021, 11 in 2022 and 11 in 2023. In addition, 12 administrative posts were connected on the basis of isolated systems, under the responsibility of FUNAE.
Last week, the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, inaugurated the Mahel Photovoltaic Plant, an administrative post located in the Magude district, where he urged the population to take care of the project and avoid vandalising the plant that is helping the local community by creating new economic dynamics.
The plant has a production capacity of 100 kWp, with a low voltage network extension of 12 kilometres, financed entirely by the state to the tune of 77 million meticals.
The system has 132 connections made between administrative buildings, schools, health centres, police stations, commercial establishments, water boreholes and homes and 109 street lamps.
AIM
