[2020-03-06] Contractor of the Temane/Maputo line in Mozambique announced in October

Source: Macauhub

Mozambican state power company Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM) hopes, by October, to select the contractor to build the Temane-Maputo transmission line project, estimated to cost US$550 million, with the aim of starting work in 2021 and completing in 2024, said on Thursday in Maputo an official from the state-owned company.

The advisor to the Board of Directors of EdM for Operations, Luís Amado, said that the construction of the 400-kilovolt Temane-Maputo Transmission Line, over a distance of 563 kilometres, also includes the construction of three electricity substations, in the districts of Marracuene (Maputo province), Chibuto (Gaza) and Vilankulos (Inhambane).

The project also sets out construction of a natural gas-fired power station, fuelled by the gas from the Temane fields, with a capacity of 420 megawatts, expected to cost approximately US$700 million.

The advisor also said that the project for the line, which will be 100% owned by EDM, already had funding available, following a pledge by partners at the time the agreement was signed in 2019, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, OPEC and the Development Bank of South Africa, among other partners.

Despite the low coverage of the electricity grid in the country, where only 34% of people have access to energy, Electricidade de Moçambique added that much of the electricity produced in the future Temane plant will be intended for export to the countries of the region, in order to help solve the energy crisis.

Currently, there are just over 2 million Mozambicans with access to electricity, which is an electrification rate of 34%. By 2030 the Mozambican authorities expect the country’s remaining citizens to be connected to the national grid or other sources of power, such as solar and mini-hydro.