The third edition of the Business Conference – Renewables in Mozambique 2023 (RenMoz 2023) kicked off this Friday, 24 November, following the Mozambique-EU Global Gateway Investment Forum that took place on 22 and 23 November.
In his opening speech, the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, António Saíde, invited the private sector to be more active in the off-grid energy sector, helping the government to bring energy to rural areas, and emphasised that “entrepreneurs already have all the conditions to operate in the energy sector, as there is no more room for complaints”, referring to the legal instruments already approved by the Executive.
“Within the framework of the reforms, the new electricity law – law no. 12/2022 – came into force, resulting from the revision of law no. 21/97 whose aim is to define the general organisation of the energy sector and the legal regime for electricity supply activities. The new legislation opens up space for private investment, in other words, Mozambique assumes that its strategic partner for energy services is the private sector, with an emphasis on renewable energies as part of the solution in the national energy system,” revealed the deputy minister.
He went on to explain that as part of the efforts to create an attractive legal framework for the implementation of renewable energy projects, the regulation on access to off-grid energy and other more specific regulations to facilitate the development of renewable energy projects outside the national electricity grid were approved in September 2021, and “there is no longer any way to complain, as the instruments are on the table”.
“Mozambique has seen an increase in the availability of electricity to meet the country’s economic and social development needs, through the construction of transport and distribution infrastructures and energy production plants with an increasing contribution from renewable energies,” praised António Saíde.
The deputy minister also said that in order to establish rules and procedures to ensure the harmonious production of renewable energy in the national electricity system, the renewable energy code was approved on 24 April this year, which means that Mozambique is in a position to integrate renewable generation based on a national instrument. In addition, the source continued, in order to establish minimum energy efficiency standards in the different sectors of energy use, and to support the implementation of concrete measures that lead to more efficient use, the energy efficiency strategy was approved last August.
“The government also approved the Electrification Plan for off-grid areas, which will be updated every two years, the first phase of which will focus on three provinces: Nampula, Zambézia and Tete. The beneficiary of this plan is the private sector,” said António Saíde.
The Business Conference – Renewables in Mozambique 2023 (RenMoz 2023) is organised by the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association (ALER) together with the Mozambican Renewable Energy Association (AMER), with the support of GET.invest Mozambique, funded by the European Union and Germany and part of the European GET.invest programme.
