Energy firm concludes construction of gas-powered plant in Mozambique

Posted on : Thursday , 24th December 2015

The Gigawatt Mozambique power company says it has completed the construction of a gas-fired power station at Ressano Garcia, on the border with South Africa, with the initial capacity to generate 120 megawatts, APA can report on Thursday.

The company’s managing director, Johan de Vos, said in a media statement emailed to APA that the power station was built in 18 months, on schedule, below budget and without any significant accidents.

The $200 million project will inject much needed power into the rapidly expanding southern African nation, which currently has very limited plant capacity to produce electricity from natural gas.

“This shows that projects of this complexity can be carried out in southern Africa, in accordance with the best international practices”, said de Vos.

Gas is seen as an attractive electricity source for Mozambique after major gas discoveries off its central coast. Its Rovuma basin is estimated to hold more than 150 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for 15 years

The tests for the final delivery of the power station were successfully concluded last week.

The contractors were the South African companies WBHO Construction and PB Power, whose main sub-contractor was TSK of Spain. The electricity is produced by 13 ABB generators equipped with Rolls-Royce motors. Each generator weights 140 tonnes and can generate 9.3 megawatts.

The power, equivalent to 24 per cent of the electricity requirements of southern Mozambique, will be sold to Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM, under a long term contract with Gigawatt. The power can be used in Mozambique or sold to the regional network of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

EDM needs to provide more than 760 MW but receives only 500 MW from the Cahora Bassa dam at a price of 1,080 meticais ($35) per MW, according to a World Bank report on the country.

The natural gas is purchased from the Matola Gas Company (MGC), which in turn obtains it from the Pande and Temane gas fields in Inhambane province, operated by the South African petro-chemical giant, Sasol.

Cited in the release, the chairperson of the Gigawatt board of directors, Castigo Langa, stressed that the new power station will add value to Mozambican natural gas, create jobs and help attract more investment to Mozambique.