Mozambican government creates entity to implement new large dam project
The entity, entitled Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project Implementation Office (Gmnk), will be responsible for coordinating and carrying out the necessary actions for the development of the project, according to a statement from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.
According to the document, Gmnk will also have the task of creating, systematizing and maintaining a database, ensuring the intellectual property of the studies and all documentation relevant to the good execution of the project.
“It will also propose measures for the resolution of pending matters related to the current concession, as well as hiring specialized consulting in the field of transactions, providing experience in similar transactions, giving credibility to the process and increasing the confidence of investors and financiers,” the statement said.
President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi announced in August last year that Mozambique’s Electricity (EDM) and Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric (HCB) are in charge of revitalizing the dam project.
Last October, in an interview with Lusa, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Augusto de Sousa said that the project could take at least another decade.
“Speaking very frankly, Mpanda Nkuwa should go to 2028 or 2029. Earlier that does not happen,” said Augusto de Sousa, in an interview with Lusa, after the construction of the project has returned to the agenda.
Augusto de Sousa explained that HCB “can go to the market and get financing to implement the project,” but there is still some preliminary work going on.
“We are seeing all the documentation of the past”, verifying that “there is nothing that penalizes the Government”, since the construction plan was approved in September of 2007, passing from then on by several partnerships, but never materializing the project.
According to official data, 70% of electricity in Mozambique is of water origin, a large part of the Cahora Bassa dam, with the remaining 30% coming from gas extracted by South African Sasol in Inhambane, in the south of the country.