MAPUTO, April 25 (Reuters) – Privately held Gigawatt
Mozambique expects to complete the construction of a 100 MW
gas-fired power plant by the end of next year, the chairman of
the company said on Wednesday.
The plant, estimated to cost $230 million and be located at
the Ressano Garcia border between Mozambique and South Africa,
will feed electricity to the national grid, run by state-owned
utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM).
The capacity of the plant could be doubled in future.
While initially the power will be bought by EDM, the company
hopes to attract buyers, especially from industry, who will pay
higher tariffs to make the project sustainable over the long
term, said Gigawatt chairman Castigo Langa.
“We are now negotiating the power purchase deal. Once we
have finalised it, we will get the funds to build and run the
100 MW plant and, in a second stage, expand to 200 MW,” he told
Reuters on the sidelines of a mining and energy conference in
Maputo.
Gas is seen as an attractive source to provide electricity
to Mozambique after recent major gas discoveries off its central
coast. Analysts estimate Mozambique to have recoverable
resources of more than 100 trillion cubic feet.
Most of Mozambique’s electricity is generated from the
Cahora Bassa hydro dam, although most of that power is exported
to South Africa.
(Reporting by William Mapote, writing by Agnieszka Flak,
editing by William Hrdy)
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