Mozambique’s publicly-owned electricity company EDM and its partner Karpowership have announced that they are planning to upgrade the floating power station docked in Nacala port in the northern province of Nampula.

According to EDM, the purpose of the upgrade is to improve air quality and fuel efficiency. Currently, the ship Irem Sultan burns heavy oil to produce 48 megawatts of electricity for EDM, and an addendum has now been made to the Environmental Impact Assessment to reflect the planned changes. A public meeting was recently held in Nampula’s provincial capital Nacala to consult the public over these proposed alterations.

The ship has the capacity to supply 110 megawatts of electricity. When its link with Mozambique’s power grid was inaugurated in March 2016 by President Filipe Nyusi it supplied power to both northern Mozambique and neighbouring Zambia. This was required because of the limited capacity of the centre-north power line which carries electricity from the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi to the north of the country. However, upon completing its contract with Zambia in March 2018, Karpower entered into a new agreement with EDM to supply 48 megawatts of base load for a period of five years. This power enters into the grid and is transmitted to the provinces of Nampula, Niassa, and Cabo Delgado.

The regional demand for electricity has grown substantially. In particular, this is in large part due to the success of the Nacala-Porto Special Economic Zone. Over 2.5 billion US dollars have been invested in the Zone since 2009, creating 178 projects. However, EDM assured customers that the increase in demand is not a matter of concern due to the contribution from the floating power station.

Karpowership is a subsidiary of the Turkish company Karadeniz Holding. Its power ships have generated a substantial percentage of the electricity requirements of Lebanon, Ghana, Indonesia, Gambia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Iraq’.source: AIM