EDM To Invest $40 Million in Solar and Wind Power under PROLER Initiative in Mozambique

Mozambique’s state-owned electric company, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), is going to invest US$40 million in new renewable energy projects. The public utility has planned to deploy new solar and wind facilities under the Renewable Energy Auction Program (PROLER), in order to accelerate electricity access for all.

EDM is going to add an energy capacity of 600 MW, including 200 MW of renewable energy by the year 2030. The information came from Olga Utchavo, EDM’s Director of Renewable Energies, on the sidelines of the recently organized hybrid entitled “Storage and Grid Integration of Renewables in Mozambique”, held in Maputo.

Utchavo said EDM aims to ensure universal access to electricity and the expansion of energy projects will be done in parallel with renewable facilities. The projects under PROLER initiative include Mozambique’s first solar power plant in Mocuba city, with an installed capacity of 40 MW. The 41 MW Metero solar facility in the Cabo Delago province also comes under the initiative. The new projects under PROLER are planned to have an estimated capacity of 30 MW each.

“We have the challenge of building the first solar power plant using electricity storage in Cuamba town, Niassa, with a capacity of 15 MW. We have the Dondo plant in Sofala and the Lichinga plant in Niassa, which are the next to be installed. In the city of Namaacha, Maputo, a wind project is being planned and will soon move to financial close and then to the construction phase,” Utchavo added.

The PROLER is implemented by EDM, in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) and funded by the European Union (EU). The program was previously targeted to generate 120 MWp of clean electricity from three solar plants near the towns of Dondo, Nacala, and Lichinga. Now, a fourth site has been selected for the construction of a wind project.

The representative of the EU, Verlee Smet, assured to support of the Mozambican government to set up the National Renewable Energy Centre in order to strengthen the national distribution network and reach the goal of universal coverage by the end of 2030. The center will play a significant role in the integration of renewable energy by controlling the balance between supply and demand and ensuring the stability of the network.