Mozambique Oil and Gas Industry: Gov aims increase in power production from natural gas

Mozambique is expected to produce 800 megawatts of electricity at natural gas-fired power plants by 2020, according to a plan from the Energy Ministry presented in Lichinga, capital of Niassa province, Mozambican news agency AIM reported.

Energy Minister, Salvador Namburete, said the target would be reached by concluding new power plant projects underway that use technology and facilities that allow for more efficient and flexible use of natural gas.

According to AIM the government also plans to diversify the location of the gas-fired plants by building a natural gas-fired 75 megawatt plan in Palma (Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique), a combined-cycle plant in Nacala (Nampula, north), along with construction of the Palma-Nacala gas pipeline and increasing power production at the Temane gas-fired power plant.

As well as gas exploration underway in the Pande and Temane fields, in Inhambane province by South African petrochemical group Sasol, large natural gas deposits have been identified in the Rovuma basin, next to the northern border with Tanzania, with estimated reserves of 170 trillion cubic feet of gas.