Maputo — Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Wednesday inaugurated a natural gas processing plant in Inhassoro district, in the southern province of Inhambane.
The plant will produce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), more commonly known as cooking gas.
According to the President, speaking during the inauguration of the Integrated Processing Factory (FPI), which was witnessed by the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, will reduce the country's cooking gas imports by approximately 70 per cent.
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"We have always imported 100 per cent of LPG for the Mozambican people. With this inauguration today, we will no longer need to import about 75 per cent. We are saving money, we are generating money,' he said.
The project envisages the production of 53 million megajoules of natural gas per year, which will enable the operation of the Temane Thermal Power Plant (CTT), and the production of 4,000 barrels of light oil per day. The plant will have the capacity to produce 450 megawatts of electricity, while the processing unit will produce 30,000 tonnes of LPG annually.
According to Chapo, the new infrastructure creates conditions to stabilize cooking gas prices and expand access to clean energy for more Mozambicans.
"We are transforming gas into development, gas into industry, gas into jobs, into dignity for the Mozambican people; this is what it means to build economic independence', he said. "The country is entering the era of local transformation, industrialization, and economic sovereignty, representing a decisive step in realizing the strategic vision of locally transforming natural resources, generating more value within the national territory, and strengthening energy sovereignty'.
According to Chapo, this is a decisive milestone in laying the foundations of economic independence and "Inhambane is transforming itself, step by step, into energy, into an industrial, logistical, and innovation centre,' he said.
According to Chapo, the implementation of the LPG project, in partnership with the South African petrochemical giant Sasol, which announced in November that it had completed the experimental loading of the first batch of LPG, proved that responsible partnerships can deliver transformative results for the economy and local communities.
"Therefore, we urge SASOL and the National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH) to fully mobilize their knowledge and capacity with young people to expand the availability of this resource throughout the national territory. We have the resources, we have the vision, now we demand concrete results: accessible, stable, and permanent gas for all Mozambican families,' Chapo said.
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"Our cooperation with South Africa, our strategic partner in the energy sector, in trade, security and development in general, and in transport and logistics, gains new momentum here. We will continue united and cohesive and transform our countries for the well-being of our people', he added.
