Hydropower

The director of the Mphanda Nkuwa Construction and Development Office, Carlos Yum, announces the pre-selection of seven companies and consortia for the financing and construction of the future Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project in Mozambique.

Carlos Yum has not disclosed the names and nationalities of the pre-selected companies. However, the Star claims that only two distinct businesses and five sizable consortia are scheduled to visit the project site this week in Tete Province, central Mozambique. A government source claimed a few weeks ago that at least eight consortia and businesses had expressed interest in the project.

These include the massive Électricité de France (EDF), the Chinese companies Longyuan Power Overseas Investment and PowerChina Resources, the Norwegian Independent Power Producer (IPP) Scatec, the Japanese companies Sumitomo Corporation and Kansai Electric Power, the Italian WeBuild Group (previously Salini Impregilo), and the Mauritius-based ETC Holdings. Only after the site visit will the shortlisted companies and consortia formulate technical and financial bids for developing the Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower scheme.

On the Zambezi River near the Marara neighbourhood, a hydroelectric dam is being built as part of the project. Its 1,500 MW power facility will be situated 60 kilometres downstream of the 2,075 MW Cahora Bassa dam. The dam will be situated 70 kilometres upstream of Tete, the province’s capital. Between Cataxia and the Mozambican capital Maputo, a transmission system with 1,300 km of 550 kV high-voltage direct current line will also be constructed.