Mozambique Renewables: Construction of Mocuba solar power plant to begin in March

Construction of the Mocuba solar power plant in Mozambique’s Zambezia province starts next March and is due to come on stream 10 months later, said the chairman of state-owned Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM) during a business forum between Mozambique and Norway held in Maputo.

The plant will have the capacity to produce 40 megawatts of electricity, will cost US$84 million and is the result of a public-private partnership involving the Scatec Solar group, the Norwegian Development Assistance Fund (Norfund) and EdM.

This solar energy project will be built by the Scatec Solar group, and the contract for the sale of electricity to state-owned EdM was signed in November 2016.

The project, which is the first major solar power plant in Mozambique, will be located in the city of Mocuba, Zambezia province, and is expected to supply 77,000-megawatt hours to around 175,000 homes annually.

In June 2017 a US$16.9 million loan contract was signed by Electricidade de Moçambique with the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) under the guarantee of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group.

EAIF, which operates under the umbrella of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, is currently funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland and by developments banks KFW of Germany and FMO of the Netherlands, according to the EAIF website.

On the same day, a shareholder agreement was signed between KLP Norfund Investments AS (22.5%), the Scatec Solar group (52.5%) and EdM (25%).

The IFC will provide US$64 million (76%) to finance the project and the remainder will be guaranteed by the shareholders, and the share of Electricidade de Moçambique will be provided by the Government of Norway through a donation. source: Macauhub