Mozambique to provide SA with 100 megawatts electricity: Ramokgopa

Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has confirmed that an emergency power purchasing agreement that will see Mozambique providing South Africa with 100 megawatts of electricity in the short term has been finalised.

The announcement comes as the country records a seven percentage point improvement in generation capacity, which translates to a recovery of nearly 3300 additional megawatts onto the grid. Ramokgopa and his Mozambican counterpart Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Carlos Zacarias, briefed the media on latest agreement at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

While South Africa is on track to secure 100-megawatts of electricity from Mozambique in the short term, the long term plans to import up to 1 000 megawatts of electricity from the country could see load-shedding reduced by one stage. The cross border power purchasing agreement between the two countries is one of the three emergency procurement programmes aimed at improving South Africa’s energy availability factor, which now stands at 60%.

Ramokgopa explains: “We’re meeting today and minister Zacarias now has confirmed that Mozambique is able to offer us 100MW immediately. As I speak to you our technical teams Eskom and EDM are meeting to finalise the details that in the next six months we can get an addition 600MW and going into the future there are multiple sources in access of a 1000MW. So we are very grateful to the Mozambican people who are beginning to make the kind of strides that we had promised the South African people.”

Electricity Minister hosts Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Carlos Zacarias:

South Africa is currently the largest buyer of hydropower from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa Dam, purchasing up to 1 400MW of hydro-electricity in a contract that is valid until 2029. Mozambique’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister elaborates:

“We are discussing now in the last few weeks potential supply of electricity for the emergency situation that South Africa is facing now and as part of the broader discussion about cooperation, the solutions that we can bring for both countries in the medium and long term.”

While Ramokgopa couldn’t not be drawn on the cost of the 100MW purchase from Mozambique he says all emergency power should not exceed five years and must be obtained at an affordable tariff structure that does not exceed the current cost of diesel.