Solar power output in Mozambique is set to almost quadruple in 2024, based on the expansion of more than a dozen solar parks, while still accounting for a relatively small part of the total, according to documents accompanying the 2024 budget bill.
According to the document, which is being debated in parliament and which Lusa had access to on Wednesday, the installed capacity of solar parks in 2023 was estimated by the government at 71,777 megawatt hours (MWh) but this grow by 288% next year to 278,519 MWh.
The Mocuba solar plant alone, in Zambezia province, in the centre of the country, is set to increase its production by 5% next year, compared to 2023, to 73,067 MWh, according to government forecasts.
Mozambique expects to generate a total of 18,496,557 MWh in 2024, down 1% on 2023, mainly from hydroelectric power plants, seen falling 2% to 14,995,899 MWh – essentially from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric plant run by the state-controlled company HCB, with 14,506,036 MWh (down 3%), but still accounting for 82% of the entire national generating capacity.
“Comparing estimated production and sales for 2023, HCB forecasts a reduction in energy production and sales for 2024, due to repair work on the floodgate diffuser (preparatory activities for the Power Station Rehabilitation Project – RS2), which will make generator groups 4 and 5 unavailable,” the budget documentation reads.
Meanwhile, Eletricidade de Moçambique (EDM), the state-owned power producer and distributor, expects growth of 7% compared to the projections for 2023, influenced by the substantial increase in production at the Mavuzi and Chicamba hydroelectric power stations.
