Construction work on the Temane-Maputo Power Transmission Line, which began in 2021, is progressing at a satisfactory pace, which leads us to believe that it may be concluded by the end of the current year.
This is the conviction of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mozambique Electricity, Marcelino Gildo Alberto, expressed a few days ago, after flying over the route of the line in the provinces of Maputo and Gaza, as part of monitoring work.
The EDM senior manager justified the satisfaction by indicating that, in terms of construction of the foundations, “we already have 85 percent of the work done, about 20 percent of the towers are already erected. Around 500 kilometres have been cleared; but the laying of the conductors has not yet begun.”
Marcelino Alberto explained that this phase should have been finished in February, but it suffered some delays due to various situations. He assured, meanwhile, that a recovery plan is being worked on in order to conclude this batch at the end of the year.
The EDM chairman noted that this was a regional project that aimed to increase installed capacity to produce electricity in the country, with quality and safety, and expected that at the end it would make it possible to make 1.5 million new connections, as well as exporting to countries in the Southern African region.
In addition to enabling new connections, the project will make a major contribution to improving reliability and creating reserve capacity for electricity that will be transported safely and with quality, thereby reducing levels of losses.
The initiative is associated to the Temane Thermal Power Plant (CTT) 450MW project, based on natural gas, in Inhambane province, which includes construction of a 400kV transmission line between Temane and Maputo, with a length of 563 kilometres, and also includes sub-stations in Vilankulo, Chibuto, Marracuene and Maputo, crossing three provinces and 13 districts of the country.
Along the 563 kilometres of the line, 236 houses were built for the resettlement of families affected by the Project. However, in all, more than three thousand people have been compensated for the loss of homes, trees and other property, or for the time they will be unable to practice agriculture.
In order to carry out the project, Mozambique has the support of cooperation partners such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and The OPEC Fund for International Development. The work is budgeted at over US$500 million (in Notícias, 24 March 2023)
