2 May 2008
Maputo — Negotiations are under way to supply electricity from the Cahora Bassa dam, in the western Mozambican province of Tete, to Zambia, according to a report in Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
Paulo Muxanga, chairperson of the board of Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the dam operating company, did not say how much power might be sold to Zambia, since the two sides have not yet begun that stage in their discussions.
"We are negotiated the supply of a certain quantity of power to Zambia", said Muxanga. This could involve the construction of a new transmission line from the dam town of Songo to the Zambian border.
Currently HCB sells 1,350 megawatts to the South African electricity company, Eskom, 400 megawatts to Mozambique's own electricity distribution company, EDM, 200 megawatts to Zimbabwe, and 35 to 40 megawatts to Botswana.
Since the maximum generating capacity at Cahora Bassa is 2,075 megawatts, this does not leave much over for other customers.
In addition to Zambia, Malawi is known to be interested in acquiring Cahora Bassa power.
Swaziland buys Mozambican electricity, but not from HCB. EDM supplies Swaziland with around 40 megawatts when it has this amount of power available - i.e. at off peak periods.
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