Vattenfall’s role in power sector development in southern Africa

Vattenfall Power Consultant, with Mr. Thomas Bergman as Project Manager, has just completed the Transmission Backbone Study in Mozambique, a pre-feasibility study financed by the World Bank where Electricidade de Mozambique is the client.

The objective is to develop a national grid able to transmit 9200 MW in a secure and stable manner from northern Mozambique to the south and Maputo, where the excess power will be exported to Eskom in South Africa and further to Southern Africa Power Pool SAPP, and at the same time connect the islanded EDM networks within Mozambique.

The Transmission Backbone consist of a 4000 MW HVDC link and a parallel 765 kV HVAC double circuit system with several 765/400 kV and 765/220 kV substations including compensation equipment and several 765 kV and 400 kV SVC. The estimated investments are 30 000 million SEK and construction period is planned for 2010 – 2015.

Thomas says: the study has been most interesting and challenging where a key factor to the success has been VPC’s appearance in the market and the nearness to the client EDM and the sub-consultant TGC. Both HVDC and EHVAC are prioritized technologies in VPC’s new international market strategy and the VPC Maputo branch office will be a key factor in the competition for this market. It will be interesting to follow the development of these project ideas and if possible we will further support the region in developing these commercial projects.

The study was presented to the Ministry of Energy in mid August, which resulted in the following press release from the Energy Minister Salvador Namburete:

Mozambique: Planned New Power Line a Comparative Advantage

Posted to the web 27 August 2008 by Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique

The planned electricity transmission line from the western Mozambican province of Tete to Maputo will be a competitive advantage to the country, in the context of the regional integration of SADC (Southern African Development Community), according to Energy Minister Salvador Namburete.

That new transmission line, Namburete told AIM, will be the backbone of the expansion of the national electricity grid, and an infrastructure of vital importance for exploiting the energy capacity of the Zambezi Valley, including a new dam on the Zambezi at Mpanda Nkuwa, 60 km downstream from the existing dam at Cahora Bassa, a second power station at Cahora Bassa, and coal-fired power stations in Moatize district.

At the moment Cahora Bassa power still reaches southern Mozambique via South Africa. The dam was designed under colonial rule, with the needs of South Africa, not those of Mozambique, in mind. So the HVDC transmission line runs south from the dam town of Songo, parallel to the Zimbabwean border, to the Apollo sub-station in South Africa. Some of the power is then channeled to Maputo via 400 kV lines owned by the South African power utility Eskom, for which the Mozambican electricity company, EDM, must pay the transmission charges.

Both the HVDC line to the Apollo sub-station and the 400 kV line from Songo to Bindura in Zimbabwe are at maximum capacity, said Namburete, and can take no more power. Addition electricity generated in the Zambezi valley will have to use an entirely new line from Tete to Maputo.

Studies on this new high voltage lines are under way, on the assumption that it will carry around 9,200 MW.

Mpanda Nkuwa is expected to generate 1,500 MW, and a coal-fired power station at Moatize, owned by the Brazilian Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) could produce 2,400 MW. The Australian company Riversdale has plans for another giant coal fired station at Benga in the size of 1000 – 2000 MW, also in Moatize district.

The existing power station at Cahora Bassa can generate 2,075 MW. If a second Cahora Bassa station is built, on the north bank of the river, it will add another 1,000 MW.

Electricity is one of Mozambique's most important contributions to SADC. The region currently faces an energy shortfall, which is expected to last until 2012. According to the projections of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), between now and 2012 SADC countries need to invest above five billion US dollars to produce an additional 6,500 MW.

Mozambique itself is in a fairly comfortable position in that it is a net exporter of electricity, and has large unexploited reserves of coal and of hydropower. Most of Mozambique's power will continue to be exported, since the country's entire consumption (excluding the 900 MW used at the MOZAL aluminum smelter) is expected to be no more than 650 MW in 2012, rising to 800 MW by 2015.

According to SAPP figures, the current total generating capacity in the SADC region is 52,500 MW.

For further information about the project, please contact

Thomas Bergman
phone: +46 8 739 73 07
Thomas Bergman