Mozambique to focus on hydropower

BASEL – Mozambique’s top energy priority is to develop hydro-electricity projects, and will then focus on gas, wind and solar power, its energy minister said on Tuesday.

Addressing a conference in Basel, Switzerland, Mozambique Energy Minister Salvador Namburete said his southern African country was not immediately interested in investing in nuclear power but had other resources to exploit.’For us, the priority is to develop the hydro potential we have. [There are] 12 000 megawatts sitting there, or being drained into the ocean, every day. We think that is priority number one,’ he said in response to a question from the audience about nuclear power.’If we exhaust that capacity, we may move into other [areas]. But before that, we still have gas, we have wind and we have solar energy,’ Namburete said. ‘Maybe at a later stage we may look at that. Right now nuclear power is not a priority.’Energy demands from growing populations have outstripped the existing power generating capacity across much of Africa. Strains on grids and electrical systems are seen as a threat to economic recovery and development in the continent.Manuel Cuambe, chief executive of Mozambique’s state-owned utility Electricidade de Mozambique (EDM), said in March that his company plans to spend US$289 million in electrification projects by 2013.The utility reported an annual loss of US$30 million due to illegal connections and vandalism. Mozambique has one of the lowest electrification rates in Africa, with the majority of the population still not linked to the national grid.Namburete told the Basel conference that a lack of access to energy service exacerbates poverty and keeps African countries from reaching their economic potential.’If you want sustainable growth and job creation, poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals then energy constraints must be removed rapidly,’ he said, referring to the United Nations’ anti-poverty targets.Mozambique’s neighbour South Africa, which is struggling to meet resurgent power demands as it emerges from recession, is trying to diversify from an over-reliance on coal-fired power stations to include more solar, wind and nuclear energy.Namburete said that Mozambique recognised the need to move away from carbon fuels, and draw investment into clean power, even as it works with energy companies such as Brazil’s Vale on coal projects.’It is not simply because climate change is the word of the day. It is our belief as a government that we should do something,’ he said. – Nampa-Reuters