Among the companies pre-qualified for the construction of the Dondo solar power plant is EDF Renewables. The subsidiary of the giant Electricité de France (EDF) will compete in the final round with a consortium formed by the French company Akuo Energy and the British company Globeleq Africa, which has just won two tenders for solar power plants in the kingdom of Eswatini, in southern Africa.
Enel Green Power, the subsidiary of the Italian group Enel, will also be in the running. So will the Norwegian independent power producer (IPP) Scatec, which has recently diversified its energy offerings, and Total Eren, the subsidiary of the French oil company Total. These IPPs will compete for the construction of a 40 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in Dondo, Sofala province, eastern Mozambique.
The project is part of the Renewable Energy Auction Programme (Proler), implemented by the state-owned Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD). According to AFD, Proler will contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in Mozambique.
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The EU-funded programme aims to generate 120 MWp from three solar photovoltaic plants, including the one in Dondo. The other two will be built in Lichinga and Manje, in Niassa and Tete provinces respectively. These plants are also undergoing pre-qualification. The construction of the first three solar photovoltaic plants is expected to avoid the emission of 25,000 tons of CO2 per year and cover the annual consumption of 300,000 Mozambican households.
Also, the future installations will increase Mozambique’s installed capacity. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mozambique has an installed capacity of 2,827 MW, of which 2,184 MW is generated from hydroelectric plants. Some of this electricity is exported to neighbouring countries, notably Eswatini.
Jean Marie Takouleu