Mozambique's publicly owned electricity company, EDM, is investing US$40 million in the installation of new solar and wind power plants through the Renewable Energy Auction Programme (PROLER) to accelerate access to energy for all.
According to EDM's Director of Renewable Energies, Olga Utchavo, "the company will, in the next five years add a further 600 megawatts of energy, including 200 megawatts from renewable sources, to accelerate the process of providing energy to the entire population of the country".
Speaking on the sidelines of an event entitled "Storage and Grid Integration of Renewables in Mozambique", Utchavo pointed out that EDM aims to ensure universal access to electricity by the year 2030.
The projects already carried out under PROLER include the country's first solar plant, in the city of Mocuba in the central province of Zambezia with a capacity of 40 MW and the Metoro solar plant in Cabo Delgado province, completed this year with a capacity to produce 40 MW.
Utchavo added, "we will build our first solar plant using energy storage in the city of Cuamba, in Niassa, with a capacity of 15 MW. We have the plants of Dondo, in Sofala, and Lichinga, in Niassa, which will be the next to be installed through PROLER. In the town of Namaacha, in Maputo, a wind power plant is being planned which will soon move to financial closure and then to construction".
For her part, the representative of the European Union, Verlee Smet, revealed that "we will support the government in developing the National Renewable Energy Centre. This will be key to the integration of renewable energy by providing greater control of the balance between supply and demand to ensure the stability of the network".
Mentioning a study supported by the European Union in 2020, Smet said that 108 Gigawatts of electricity storage is needed to maintain the security of energy supply and integrate the renewable energy needed to decarbonise the economy.
The representative of the German Embassy, Ingmar Kreisl, pointed out that about €100 million have already been invested in renewable projects in the country in collaboration with the private sector. He added that "we have already intervened in the modernisation of the hydroelectric plants of Mavuzi and Chicamba, in the province of Manica and we are promoting private sector initiatives".
