Mozambique

Mozambique is well-endowed with natural resources and has the largest power generation potential in Southern Africa. Its population of 30 million is spread over a large area with a dispersed rural population and limited grid infrastructure. Until recently, the country's primary energy resource potential has been hydropower, which represents roughly 80% of installed power generation capacity, as well as proposed development of its substantial offshore natural gas reserves through floating LNG infrastructure. However, over the last decade, the Mozambican government has started to adopt non-hydro renewable energy sources to diversify its electricity mix. The country has areas with excellent wind resource potential, and wind is being incorporated into centralised electricity planning in the Integrated Master Plan of Energy Infrastructures (PDIE).

Expanding electricity access while diversifying the power mix

Due to its dependence on hydropower, Mozambique is vulnerable to drought, but produces sufficient electricity to provide bulk exports to South Africa via existing interconnections through the regional South Africa Power Pool (SAPP). While Mozambique's power generation potential is generally estimated to be more than 185 GW, its installed capacity is currently less than 3 GW. Access to the power grid has tripled in Mozambique over the last decade and is forecast to continue growing at an annual rate of 7-8%. This is driven by the government's National Electrification Strategy (ENE) to achieve universal access by 2030 for the more than 4 million households without electricity, a large increase from the current access rate of about 40%.

According to the latest wind resource measurements from 2020 developed by consultants to the IFC, Mozambique has technical potential to achieve up to 681 GW installed capacity and 1,570 TWh per year of net wind energy generation. Beyond its excellent wind resource, there are other favourable conditions for wind development, including complementarity with the country's well-developed hydropower capacity and its peak energy demand in the evening. Mozambique's government and EDM also have a track record, albeit limited, of working with renewable energy IPPs. In 2016, Scatec Solar and Norfund signed a PPA for the country's first large-scale renewable energy IPP project, the Mocuba solar PV plant, and as has been the case in many emerging markets, Mozambique's first wind projects parallel its solar development.