Mozambican Firm To Export Electricity To Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia

Mozambique’s Electridade de Moçambique (EDM) plans to increase power exports to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.

Speaking to the AIM news agency, EDM chairman Marcelino Gildo Alberto said that power exports to the region currently represent 22 per cent of EDM’s annual revenues. The Macao News quoted Alberto as saying:

The southern African region is in crisis. South Africa is short of power, Zimbabwe the same, Zambia too, and recently we learned that Tanzania is starting to have problems.

So, we are going to take advantage of this situation to sell to the regional market, because we have surplus energy.

Zimbabwe and Zambia’s electricity crises are partly attributable to falling water levels at Lake Kariba.

Last year, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) ordered ZESA and ZESCO, Zimbabwe and Zambia’s power utilities respectively, to reduce electricity generation last year.

Zimbabwe operates the Kariba South Bank Power Station, which has an installed capacity of 1 050MW, while Zambia operates the Kariba North Bank Power Station which has an installed capacity of 1 080MW.

On 4 January 2023, Zambia’s State-owned power utility ZESCO Limited increased hours of load shedding to twelve (12) hours daily due to low water levels in the lake.

ZESA was also forced to reduce power generation at Kariba South Power Station towards the end of 2022 due to dwindling water levels, and as of 5 January 2023, the power plant was generating a meagre 260MW.