Maputo, 16 Jul (AIM) – The Mozambican government on Tuesday guaranteed that the Mozal aluminium smelter, on the outskirts of Maputo, will continue operating although its power supply contract with the South African electricity company Eskom ends in 2026.
According to the government spokesperson, and Minister for State Administration, Inocêncio Impissa, who was speaking to reporters on Tuesday in the central city of Beira, after a meeting of the Council of Ministers (cabinet), the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM, is interested in starting to supply Mozal with power.
“It is in our interest that Mozal continues to have enough energy. It is in the government’s interest. It’s also in the government’s interest that EDM becomes the supplier”, said Impissa.
Mozal buys its power from Eskom, but, in reality, the power is Mozambican. Eskom buys 1,150 megawatts from the Mozambican company, Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), which operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi river.
Eskom then sells 950 megawatts to Mozal. There is still no electricity transmission line from the Zambezi Valley to Maputo, and so HCB power must reach Mozal via Eskom.
For its current operations, Mozal, needs 950 Megawatts (MW) to produce over 560,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. In the near future, however, Mozal intends to increase its production to 600,000 tonnes per year, as a result of several new investments.
Impissa revealed that the government and Mozal are already negotiating behind closed doors so that EDM may start supplying electricity. Most of this power will certainly come from the Cahora Bassa dam, which is far and away the largest source of power in Mozambique.
“These are terms that must still be debated, but Mozal will certainly not run out of energy. Mozal employs thousands of Mozambicans and it pays taxes that go into the state budget. Electricity will be supplied continuously”, Impissa added.
AIM has learned that to date, Mozal has been unable to agree on an affordable electricity tariff with HCB as a result of the southern African drought that has negative impact on electricity generation.
(AIM)
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