Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the main source of electricity in the country for domestic consumption and export, recorded in the first nine months of the year a production 6% below that recorded in 2020, announced the company.

By the end of the third quarter, energy production reached 10,899.79 GWh, after in the same period of 2020 it stood at 11,602 31 GWh.

Despite the decline, HCB said in a statement that the figure is 5.5% above what it had planned to produce in a year for which a reduction in electricity production was already anticipated.

The latest activity report detailed that due to deferred maintenance activities in 2020 because of covid-19, this year's annual production target is 14,125.53 GWh, about 8% below last year's 15,350 GWh.

The reservoir ended the third quarter of 2021 with a level of 324.29 meters - corresponding to a useful stored volume of 91.4% - and the objective is to carry out discharges to descend to 320.80 meters by the end of the year, announced in the same statement.

That level should guarantee "plugging capacity" for the rainy season and compliance with the dam's operating standards.

Located on the Zambezi River in the central Tete province, the Cahora Bassa dam supplies South Africa and southern Mozambique with an annual production that was 4.7% higher in 2020 than 2019.

The company has an ongoing modernization plan that foresees investments in the dam, the generation plant, the Songo and Matambo substations, and in the power transmission lines, aiming to increase technical and operational reliability.

The Mozambican state holds 85% of HCB's shares, 7.5% belong to the Portuguese Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) and 4% belong to national investors, and the remaining 3.5% are held by HCB itself.

Lusa Agency