Construction works on Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric dam located on the Zambezi River in Mozambique have officially kicked off. The Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Augusto Fernando, said that the works are to reinforce the amount of electricity being transported along the Tete-Maputo line.
Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project
The deputy minister further disclosed that the Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project Implementation Office now has a director and consultant who will review the whole project, designed in 2008 by several consortia. Fernando also said that the office will focus its activity on the feasibility analysis of the project based on environmental and hydrological impact studies, among other factors, and it is expected to be able to start and finish the construction of this project within an estimated period of five years.
President Filipe Nyusi had on August 2018 said that the Mpanda Nkuwa hydroelectric facility is a “structural undertaking” and announced the end of the concession to the consortium led by Mozambican group Insitec and Brazilian construction company Camargo Corrêa, with 40% each, along with state-owned Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM).
Nyusi also said that EdM and the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Facility have the capacity and technical and financial skill to structure the project, which will avoid obstruction and delay, on the one hand, and will contribute to reducing its cost because it does not involve intermediaries, on the other.
