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Funding approved for power line to Mozambique’s first utility-scale wind farm
4/6/2025
News
The African Development Bank has approved $43.6mn for a new transmission line in Mozambique, advancing efforts to deliver clean power from the country’s first utility-scale wind project. The announcement comes as President Daniel Chapo reiterated Mozambique’s broader commitment to renewable energy expansion, highlighting plans to scale up solar, wind and hydro capacity to meet domestic demand and supply southern Africa.
The African Development Bank (ADB) Group approved the financing for construction of the Namaacha–Boane transmission line and related electricity infrastructure in Mozambique. The government of Mozambique is also contributing funds to the project.
Mozambique’s national power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) is developing the project in partnership with Central Eléctrica da Namaacha, (CEN), a private sector-led venture involving Globeleq Africa and Source Energia.
Two new 43 km, single-circuit, 66 kV transmission lines will be constructed, in addition to network upgrades and equipment to ensure stable power delivery. Once completed, the project will transmit up to 332 GWh of clean wind energy from the planned 120 MW Namaacha onshore wind farm in Maputo, in south-west Mozambique, to homes and businesses across the country and the wider Southern Africa region. It is also expected to cut CO2 emissions by over 71,000 t/y, reports ADB.
Namaacha is the first utility-scale wind power project in Mozambique. EDM will be the sole off-taker of electricity from the project under a ‘25-year take-or-pay’ power purchase agreement (PPA).
‘This project is a major step forward in Mozambique’s transition to a low-carbon energy future,’ says Kevin Kariuki, the Bank Group’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth. ‘It will deliver affordable electricity, support local industry and improve livelihoods.’
The project aligns with the ADB’s ‘Light Up and Power Africa’ programme and ‘Mission 300’ initiative that aims to connect 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030. Over 600 million people in Africa currently lack access to electricity, the lowest access rate of any continent, according to the ADB.
President promises more renewables to supply southern Africa
Meanwhile, Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo has pledged extensive investment in renewables to develop the local economy and supply electricity domestically and to countries in southern Africa, according to Portuguese news agency Lusa.
‘Mozambique is committed to expanding renewable energy as part of its long-term energy strategy, with solar and wind energy expected to account for 20% of the country’s electricity matrix by 2040, marking a significant step towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy matrix,’ he said at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant in Maputo last month.
Lusa reports that President Chapo outlined plans to increase Mozambique’s installed solar capacity to 266 MW and wind capacity to 40 MW by 2030. He also noted that a gas-fired power plant of 450 MW capacity is currently being built in Temane
Other renewable energy projects are also moving forward in the provinces of Inhambane and Maputo, said the news agency. These are expected to add 170 MW of energy production capacity by 2030, while the Cuamba II solar power plant in Niassa province will add a further 20 MW.
In addition, President Chapo was reported to have said investment was planned to modernise the Cahora Bassa energy production and transport chain to ensure greater reliability and availability of energy in Mozambique and southern Africa. Located in the Zambezi Basin in Tete, Mozambique, Cahora Bassa is the largest hydroelectric project in southern Africa, at 2,075 MW.
‘We are at an advanced stage in community consultations for the construction of the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric power plant, an energy project that will add more than 1,500 MW of availability for the country and the region, not counting the Boroma, Lupata, Chemba and other dams on the Zambezi River, which account for about 80% of Mozambique's hydroelectric capacity,’ said the President.
In related news, the Mozambican Renewable Energy Association (AMER) and the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association (ALER), which also covers Angola and Guinea-Bissau, forecast that Mozambique’s installed capacity is expected to grow 227% by 2030, rising from 2,900 MW to 9,472 MW. According to their latest Renewables in Mozambique report, $80bn will be needed by 2050 to finance the country’s Energy Transition Strategy (ETE). The ETE is structured in four pillars and 14 programmes, including initiatives for universal access to energy, green industrialisation and clean transport (see BR Nº 250 de 29.12.23, Boletim da República – I Serie at nm.gov.mzi).
