Mozambique’s National Energy Fund (FUNAE) expects to complete 10 electrification projects by the end of the first half of 2027, after resource availability constraints affected the implementation of works and the maintenance of infrastructure.
According to FUNAE chairman Mety Gondola, the fund is reorganising its priorities, focusing on projects that are between 60% and 70% complete, while another 12 projects, with completion levels of between 30% and 40%, are expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
The National Energy Fund is a Mozambican public institution responsible for financing and implementing energy projects, particularly those aimed at increasing access to electricity in rural areas, including small power plants, such as solar facilities, that operate outside the national electricity grid.
“We have therefore identified these cases, and we must complete these 10 projects by the end of the first half of 2027 at the latest,” Gondola said, referring to projects that are between 60% and 70% complete.
Among the 12 projects with completion levels of between 30% and 40% is the Lúrio project, in Nampula province in northern Mozambique, where the civil engineering component remains unfinished. According to Gondola, FUNAE already has the resources to proceed but is renegotiating the contract with the contractor because of disagreements over the costs of resuming the work.
“But what is certain is that we will electrify Lúrio. It is on our list of urgent priorities,” the official said, adding that a team would travel to the site to assess the situation and seek to ensure the project’s completion.
FUNAE says it is also prioritising the rehabilitation of power plants that stopped operating because of breakdowns and have remained out of service, without supplying electricity, for two or three years.
The rehabilitation of this infrastructure is part of Mozambique’s efforts to expand access to electricity, particularly in rural areas and communities far from the national grid.
In October, National Energy Director Marcelina Mataveia identified population dispersion, the country’s geographical size and funding constraints as among the main obstacles to expanding access to energy.
According to data presented by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mozambique has achieved an energy access rate of 66.9%, of which 57.9 percentage points correspond to the conventional electricity grid and nine percentage points to off-grid solutions.
FUNAE previously presented the National Programme for Accelerating Electrification through Mini-Grids (Promir), which provides for the installation of 363 mini-grids across the country, with an estimated investment of US$250 million.
Funding for 148 of these facilities has been secured in the provinces of Nampula and Niassa in northern Mozambique, and Zambézia and Tete in the centre.
The institution is also assessing projects in which electricity grid installation has progressed but civil engineering works have fallen behind schedule. Depending on each case, it may resume existing contracts or launch new tenders to complete the infrastructure.
“First, we need to find resources so that we can resume our activities,” Gondola said, referring to the mobilisation of funding to rehabilitate facilities and complete ongoing projects.
In September, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo announced the creation of a coalition to mobilise €966.5 million for off-grid electrification, as part of the target of achieving universal access to energy by 2030. The government plans to carry out around 2.5 million off-grid connections to achieve this goal.
Source: Lusa