The South African state-owned group Central Energy Fund (CEF) confirmed this week its intention to move forward with the construction of an 800-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in Komatipoort, a South African town near the border with Mozambique. The project is considered strategic for regional energy security.
According to Engineering News, the information was shared during a parliamentary hearing at the South African Minerals and Petroleum Resources Committee, where CEF executives were questioned about the group’s major projects and ongoing operational challenges. Among the highlights was the future power plant, which could strengthen energy supply reliability both for the South African market and for neighboring countries.
According to Sifiso Msabala, CEF’s interim Chief Operations Officer, the project already has environmental approval and is in the phase of negotiating a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). However, he declined to provide details regarding timelines or the entities involved in financing and operating the project.
Although technical supply data are yet to be finalized, the plant’s geographical location — just a few kilometers from Mozambique’s Gaza province — could facilitate strategic electrical interconnections with the country, contributing to the diversification of regional energy sources.
Mozambique currently exports energy to South Africa through the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant but has been seeking to consolidate a more balanced regional network with the potential for bidirectional flows. In addition to this project, CEF announced plans to resume operations at the Sapref refinery in Durban and the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids (GTL) unit, both currently inactive. The reactivation of the Durban refinery, for example, will require significant investment and the entry of a strategic partner, aiming to triple production capacity to 450,000 barrels per day, according to the group.
In the most recent fiscal year, the CEF group recorded a net profit of 553 million rand (US$ 8.7 million), driven by a non-operational gain of 1.8 billion rand (US$ 29 million) from asset revaluation during the acquisition of the Sapref refinery. This gain offset an operational loss of 2.9 billion rand (US$ 45.4 million).
Source: Diário Económico
