MAPUTO, 21 January 2025: Mozambique is considering negotiating with with neighbouring Zambia and Zimbabwe to allow 20 to 25 billion cubic metres of water from the Zambezi River to enter the Cabora Basa hydroelectric dam (HCB) which is currently very low on water. In return, they will sell the two countries cheaper hydro-electricity.
The Zambezi, Southern Africa’s largest river has suffered severe droughts since 2022. This has hampered its capacity to generate electricity for Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Cabora Basa Hydro Electricity power plant is an important supplier of cost effective hydro electricity to South Africa’s ESKOM. ESKOM then supplies 80% of Eswatini’s electricity needs. Drought and loss of hydro electricity shifted electricity production to high-cost gas-fired thermal electricity. Mozambique has substantial natural gas deposits at its Pande fields and is now an important electricity supplier to the Southern Africa Power Pool. Its three power generators, Motraco, EDM and Cabora Basa have an installed capacity of 2724 megawatts with an excess capacity of 163 MW. This makes Mozambique, together with Angola, Zambia, South Africa and Namibia the only five countries of 12 SADC countries to produce electricity surplus.
Vilanculo who heads Department of Basin Management at the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources told the Noticias newspaper that at the moment, the storage level of the Cahora Bassa reservoir stands at 20%, whereas the normal level during the rainy season is at least 70%, corresponding to 30 to 35 billion cubic metres.
He says negotiations will be necessary because when it rains and the Zambezi water level rises, Zambia and Zimbabwe prioritize raising water levels of their dams.
“The water market is a possibility. It means negotiating and buying water from Zimbabwe and Zambia. Zambia was clear in saying that it will not allow more than 12 billion cubic meters to pass through, yet this amount is not enough for us.” The ideal, he says would be to allow at least 20 to 25 billion cubic meters of water to replenish the HCB reservoir to power the generators to produce electricity for sale to Zambia and Zimbabwe at a discounted price.
For Vilanculo, this negotiation alternative has the merit of considering the strong power generation capacity of HCB compared to the Kariba dam, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe, across the Zambezi River basin.
“HCB has a greater production capacity than Kariba, which is large, but with only low power. So, the alternative would be for us to fill HCB, produce and sell energy at reduced prices. I think it would be a reasonable solution, because normally the Zambezi flows until May,” he said.
The El Nino weather phenomenon has been particularly brutal to the Zambezi which flows onto the Victoria Falls. Right now the Kariba dam that has a normal capacity of 181 billion cubic metres currently holds only around six billion. In turn, HCB has a capacity of 51 billion cubic metres, but is currently at 12 billion.
jm/today/21.1.2024/Source: Notícias
