A Memorandum of Understanding was signed, on 16th April 2018, between Electricidade de Moçambique, E.P. and CMEC (China Machinery Engineering Corporation) that establishes the terms for carrying out a feasibility study for the construction of the Cuamba Thermal Plant, in Niassa Province. Due to start in June 2018, the study will take 8 to 10 months, after which a tender will be launched for the construction of a new power plant.
The project for the construction of the power plant in Cuamba is part of the Strategic Plan of the Government and aims to diversify the sources of power generation in the northern region of the country, known that this depends only on the Cahora Bassa Hydropower.
The Memorandum was signed by Mr Carlos Yum, Executive Director and Member of the Board of Directors, on behalf of EDM, and by Mr Mário Qing, of CMEC, in the presence of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of EDM, Mateus Magala, of the Provincial Governor of Niassa, Arlindo Chilundo, of the Members of the Board of Directors and some directors invited to the ceremony.
Speaking in the event, Mateus Magala said that the agreement must bring positive results in order to recover the investment. He also said that most importantly the project will increase the quality of living of the populations because they will have quality and reliable energy.
The CEO of EDM reminded that the company has had losses in the supply of energy in the northern region due to losses caused by the length of the transmission lines.
From the economic point of view, he said that energy is fundamental in the northern region to ensure the development of industries and consequently transform the lives of the populations.
“We are making a very important step in the materialisation of the recommendations of the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, which indicate the maximisation of the existing energy potential to boost the development of Niassa Province, which is a potential in natural resources”, he said.
In his turn, the representative of CMEC, Mário Qing, assured that his company is ready to start the work within a week.
The Governor of Niassa Province, Arlindo Chilundo, visibly happy about the signing of the memorandum, said that the maximisation of the energy potentials of Niassa Province is also part of the Strategic Plan of the Government of the province. “Niassa has many natural resources but there is a lack of energy infrastructures”, he stated.
Chilundo stated that approximately 17 per cent of the population have access to energy and there is a lack of energy to industrialise the province.
“We are in a process of constructing a cement factory with a capacity for 240 thousand tonnes a year, we foresee the construction of a graphite processing unit, in Nipepe, with a capacity of 50 thousand tonnes, another factory for the production of 60 thousand tonnes of granite, wood processing, amongst other infra-structures”, he added.
The Governor of Niassa ended by saying that only in the last agricultural campaign about 952 thousand tonnes were produced, corresponding to household production.
