South Africa's Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said his country will need more power supplies from Mozambique to make up for the shortfall generated by the closure of coal-fired power plants.

"We are decommissioning coal-fired power plants and we have taken a concrete step of replacing those plants with gas technology and that will increase the amount of gas that Mozambique is expected to supply us," Gwede Mantashe said.

The South African governor was recently in Maputo, where he had a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart, Max Tonela.

Each coal-fired power plant that South Africa dismantles will be a market opportunity for Mozambique, because South Africa is rich in natural gas and hydroelectric power, he added.

"We have 16 coal-fired power plants and all are under pressure to close and be replaced by technologies that allow the reduction of carbon emissions, this is an opportunity for Mozambique to seize," said the South African Energy Minister, quoted by Lusa.

According to Mantashe, South Africa already buys natural gas produced by the Sasol oil company in Temane, Inhambane province, and he added that he has been discussing with Max Tonela ways for the two countries to explore further avenues for strengthening energy supplies.

Mozambique's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said on the occasion that there is "ample room" for intensifying cooperation with South Africa in the energy sector, noting that the country has "availability" of clean energy sources.

"Energy is a resource that has to be used for the development of our economy, but also for export," Max Tonela said.

Mozambique, he continued, counts on its energy wealth as an asset for the integration of the economies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

In addition to the natural gas it buys from Temane and piped through a gas pipeline, South Africa also receives power from the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB), located in Tete province.