The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias, said recently that the resolution of the energy deficit in South Africa may be near, and the two countries are currently accelerating the dialogue for the supply of energy through the Mozambican matrix.

"There is interest in alignment between the Governments of Mozambique and South Africa so that we can quickly implement projects that will lead to the production of more electricity," the Minister said last week in Inhambane.

As an example, the official pointed out the Mphanda Nkuwa dam construction project, which will serve to feed the energy needs of the two countries.

Mphanda Nkuwa is a project that is expected to provide 1500 Megawatts of electricity, and is valued at $4.5 billion.

In Inhambane the Minister was monitoring the gas and oil exploration projects in the province and pointed out other projects that will supply the energy needs of South Africa, namely, the combined cycle thermal power plant using gas, the construction of a cooking gas factory, as well as the energy transport line between Temane and Maputo.

The Temane Thermal Power Plant project is the result of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) involving the Government, the National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH) and the South African multinational SASOL, It is budgeted at around US$ 760 million and foresees the production of 4000 barrels of light oil per day, 23 million gigajoules of Natural Gas, per year, for power generation, as well as the production of 30 thousand tons of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas.

The Natural Gas to enable the Temane Thermal Power Plant Project will be supplied by ENH and SASOL, as co-sellers of the product, under a contract signed with Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) in May 2021.

This plan will guarantee the generation of 450 Megawatts of electricity and is the result of a public-private partnership formed and led by Globeleq, EDM and SASOL, with a concession valid for 25 years. At the end of the Contract, the asset will be transferred to the Mozambican State.

With an investment of 652.3 million US dollars, CTT will produce electricity, in a combined cycle generation model based on Natural Gas, which will be supplied to EDM for distribution in the national market and the surplus will be exported to the region.