11 September 2009
Maputo — The Mozambican government has authorized the Australian company Riversdale Mining to seek partnerships to implement the project to set up a thermal power station in Benga, in the western province of Tete, using coal extracted from Riversdale's nearby mining concession, reports Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
To this end, an agreement was signed in Maputo on Wednesday between Energy Minister Salvador Namburete and Riversdale, allowing for the hiring of consultants who will conduct a feasibility study for the construction of the power station, estimated to cost about 1.3 million US dollars.
In its first stage, the Benga power station will generate 500 megawatts, using 1.3 million tonnes of coal. This is expected to rise to 2,000 megawatts by 2014. By then, the power station should be connected to the national grid.
Speaking after the signing of the agreement, the chairperson of the Riversdale Mozambique Consultative Council, Casimiro Francisco, said this will guarantee that coal that is not of an appropriate quality for export can be used locally to generate electricity.
Benga is part of the Moatize coal basin, which has attracted investors because of the high quality of its hard coking coal. This will mostly be exported, but the mining operations will inevitably also produce significant amounts of thermal coal.
Namburete stressed that the planned power station will increase the country's power generation, and the government is committed to take advantage of this increased power supply to seek investors who will open industries that depend on a reliable supply of electricity.
"We will have to work harder to attract industries that will drive the development of people's lives through the creation of more jobs", he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
