Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) claims that it loses 20 million dollars a year as a result of public lighting, for which it receives no subsidies.

EDM's Commercial Director, Belmiro Óscar, was quoted by AIM as saying that the cost of providing public lighting in towns and cities, whether municipalities or not, is borne directly by EDM.

According to the source, domestic electricity consumption has increased by 50% in the last three years and now stands at 1,080 megawatts (MW).

"HCB's subsidized energy is half the peak we have today, and the other half we have to get from private suppliers and has a different cost. In the cost structure, we need to see where we can implement containment and guarantee the sustainability of the company and the fulfillment of the universal electrification agenda by 2030," he said as quoted by the agency.

"The business model will become sustainable as long as we apply the right management. We can't run away, that's the agenda, we have to electrify the country," he said.

According to Óscar, in order to overcome the situation, a forum has been set up that includes the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREMI), EDM and the Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE), to find a way of meeting the costs of public energy. lighting.

This lighting includes traffic lights in Mozambique's main cities. Of the total of 65 municipalities, only 20 have traffic lights, of which only 15 have honored their commitments to EDM, four are still struggling to pay for the energy and one, Chiure, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, has a traffic center light system running on solar panels. (AIM)