Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) confirms that renewable energies have a 70 per cent share of the national energy matrix and are committed to guaranteeing access to energy for the entire population by 2030.
Recently, around 55 MW were added to the grid through the Cuamba plant, with 15 MW, and the Mocuba plant, with 40 MW, confirming the importance of sustainable sources of energy generation, underpinned by the political and institutional conditions associated with a legal framework.
Institutional conditions associated with a favourable legal-regulatory framework.
For EDM, a decisive role in the performance of renewable energies in the country is played by hydroelectric power stations such as the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Station, which contributes more than 2,000 MW, the Mavuzi and Chicamba power stations and the mini-hydroelectric power stations in Cuamba, Lichinga in the northern province of Niassa and Corumane in Maputo province, in addition to other solar and wind technologies, as well as the contribution of natural gas.
This assurance was given to AIM by Mónica Olga Utchavo, head of the Renewable Energy Department at EDM.
“There is still work to be done internally to gauge the penetration of renewable energies, but we can guarantee that at the moment renewable energies account for 70 per cent of the national energy matrix,” said Utchavo.
He shared that a further 120 MW could go into construction at the beginning of next year, in addition to the Metoro plant in Cabo Delgado, which due to various constraints has not yet added its production to the national electricity grid, as part of a plan in which EDM overall hopes to produce 600 MW by 2030.
According to the source, work is underway to create green corridors, not only to enable the 600 MW, but also at the transmission level to guarantee the evacuation of this production to the consumer markets, materialising the desire to turn the country into a regional ʺhubʺ through interconnection.
“Regional interconnection is important so that we can evacuate all the power that can be generated in the country, using hydroelectric resources, gas and renewable energies,” he said.
It should be noted that recently the Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE) announced that Mozambique is showing growth and commitment to climate change mitigation actions, leaving a clear command that any reform and implementation of projects in the energy sector should take into account the need to boost the use of renewable energies.
ARENE’s vision is reflected in the projects being implemented in the National Electricity Network (REN) with the Renewable Energy Auction Programme (PROLER), the four generation projects (three solar and one wind) aimed at increasing energy security and achieving a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions in the 2020-2030 period, carried out under a public tender system to award concessions for energy production from renewable sources.
PROLER is now in its second public tender for the selection of Independent Energy Producers for the
Independent Energy Producer for the development of solar power plants in Tete province (centre) and Niassa province (north).
The other segment that has seen significant progress is the off-grid segment, which has seen its legal and regulatory framework developed in recent times, with the aim of making it more robust in order to speed up private investment in renewable energy projects, including the General Regulation on Access to Energy in Off-Grid Zones.
AIM
