415 MW gas-fired floating plant returns to Maputo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zitamar
Electricidade de Moçambique and Karpower Global DMCC are proposing a 415-megawatt natural gas-fired floating plant in Maputo Bay. The project replaces a heavy fuel oil version blocked in 2023 on environmental grounds and could obtain its environmental licence in the first half of 2027, according to Zitamar.
Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), the state electricity company, and Karpowership, a Turkish company specialising in floating power plants, are proposing a 415 MW natural gas-fired generating unit in Maputo Bay, according to Zitamar. The vessel would be installed in the Espírito Santo estuary, at the Port of Maputo, in Maputo province.
The plant would initially operate for three years to make up for delays in the construction of the Temane power plant. The gas pipeline and electricity grid connections could then be used by future power-generating vessels. EDM hopes to obtain the environmental licence in the first half of 2027, while construction and mobilisation would take between six and eight months, with no confirmed start date for production.
Karpowership would finance the investment, estimated at $20 million, and plans to recover it through export revenues within 12 months. The allocation of electricity between the Mozambican market and exports has not yet been decided, according to Zitamar. The project replaces a heavy fuel oil version blocked by the government in 2023 after opposition from environmental campaigners, including the Mozambican organisation Justiça Ambiental.
