Almost 30 per cent of the energy produced in 2022 by Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) was exported, driven by the production of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB), with the administration pointing to the country’s goal of becoming a regional energy hub.
In the accounts report of the Mozambican state-owned electricity company, to which Lusa had access this Thursday, 14 September, the chairman of the board of directors (PCA), Marcelino Gildo Alberto, described that “if, on the one hand, we have the governmental challenge of ensuring that energy fulfils its role as a driver of social and economic development, on the other, EDM should, in the coming years, consolidate the country’s role as an energy hub in the SADC [Southern African Development Community] region”.
According to the document, the electricity produced in Mozambique in 2022 amounted to 8146 GigaWatt-hours (GWh), an increase of 6% compared to 2021, and of this total, 1730 GWh was exported to neighbouring countries, 5% more than last year.
As a result, the weight of EDM’s electricity exports – supplied to other concessionaires or consumers operating in the countries of the SADC region covered by Southern African energy market agreements – totalled 27% of the 2022 total.
“The surplus energy available at times of low consumption is optimised through bilateral energy export agreements to the regional market,” the ED adds, explaining that “maximising the availability of the additional 150 non-firm MegaWatts (MW) of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant at times of low national demand contributed to the 5% increase in exports compared to 2021.”
In terms of demand, the total energy billed increased by 7% compared to the same period in 2021, to 6350 GWh. Thus, taking into account the total production of 8146 GWh in 2022, more than 20 per cent of the electricity produced in Mozambique has not been invoiced by the company.
In the same report, EDM also identifies various “constraints” that are impacting the company’s operations, such as the “high debts owed by state institutions”, especially in the areas of water supply and health, but also the “difficulty in collecting the debt owed by the Ministry of Defence and Security”.
The company also recognises the “shortfall in funds for the purchase of maintenance equipment and meters”, the “poor recovery of retroactive energy debt”, resulting in the “exponential growth of debt in the system”.
Created in 1977, EDM’s mission is to produce, transport, distribute and commercialise electricity from its own production, from the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB) and from Independent Energy Producers.
According to EDM, of HCB’s 2075 MW of installed capacity, “only 650 MW are available to the national market”, which “has forced us to resort to very expensive energy” from Independent Energy Producers, “to meet the growing demand which, in 2022, will reach around 1044 MW”.
