Mozambique power utility seeks US$2.5m to repair substations

Full repairs to the electricity sub-station at Matola, which is critical to the normal supply of power to Maputo and Matola cities, will cost 100 million meticais (about US$2.5 million), according to the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM.There are two transformers in the sub-station. One of them broke down in March, and the second suffered a major breakdown last Wednesday, when the sub-station was hit by lightning.“It’s calculated that it will cost 50 million meticais to repair each transformer”, said EDM spokesperson Luis Amado, cited by the independent television station, STV. “This is the money required to import new coils and to pay the expenses of the technical team on the ground”.The new coils are already in the country, he added, as are Portuguese technicians from the company that made the transformers. Work has begun to replace the old coils with new ones, but Amado believed it would take another 45 days to finish the job.With the Matola sub-station knocked out, EDM has had to re-route power for Maputo city and province through the nearby Infulene sub-station, and is also using alternative sources, such as the gas-fired power stations in Beluluane, in Boane district, and in Ressano Garcia, on the South African border.Despite EDM’s efforts, power cuts are continuing, particularly in parts of central Maputo. Shops that can afford to are obtaining electricity from their own generators. Any restaurant or similar business without a generator risks serious losses as produce rots in Maputo’s sweltering temperatures (expected to hit 40 degrees centigrade on Thursday).Power has been fully restored to the water treatment and pumping station on the Umbeluzi river which supplies Maputo with most of its drinking water. However, the water crisis, affecting around 150,000 people in the city, will continue for several more days.When the Umbeluzi station was without power, no water could be pumped to Maputo. Since 30 September, the water consumed in Maputo came from the giant storage facilities at the 11 distribution centres operated by the Maputo Regional Water Company.The company’s director of Production and Distribution, Gildo Timoteo, told reporters that these facilities had been run virtually dry. Normal distribution of water, 14 hours a day, cannot resume until the tanks at the distribution centres have been refilled, and Timoteo estimated that that would take a further three days.