Inaugurates combined cycle power station

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday inaugurated a gas fired combined cycle power station in Maputo, with the capacity to generate 106 megawatts of electricity.A combined cycle gas turbine station is highly efficient because it uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is channelled to the nearby steam turbine, which generates extra power.The new power station possesses two gas turbines which each generate 40 megawatts, and a steam turbine producing 26 megawatts. It will provide electricity for southern Mozambique, particularly Maputo city and province, meeting about 25 per cent of the demand.The station cost 180 million US dollars. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated 167 million dollars, and the remaining 13 million dollars came from the Mozambican government. The gas used by the turbines comes from the Pande and Temane onshore fields in Inhambane province.

Speaking at the inauguration, Nyusi said it is urgent to find means of meeting the electricity deficit in Mozambique and in the southern African region.“We must solve the electricity shortage for our own economy, which is now undergoing a sharp recovery, and for the region, where there is a greater demand”, stressed the President.He pointed out that around 70 per cent of the Mozambican population still does not have access to electricity from the national grid, and the government had no right to say “we have exhausted our capacity to serve or to think of solutions”.Nyusi said that, over the past three years, the government has mobilised more than 1.1 billion US dollars for electricity generation and distribution projects. Some of the projects already completed are the high voltage power lines from Lindela to Massinga, in the south, and from Chibata to Dondo in the central province of Sofala; sub-stations in Dondo, Quelimane, and Namialo in the centre and north of the country; and the electrification of Derre district, in Zambezia, soon to be followed by two other Zambezia districts, Mulevala and Luabo.“We have no doubt that our capacity to grow sustainably is closely linked to the level of access to electricity”, stressed Nyusi.He pointed out that there are abundant sources of power in Mozambique, both conventional and renewable.“Many countries is the region have an energy deficit”, he said. “To become competitive we must maximise urgently the advantages we have, and prepare adequately to meet the needs and opportunities of the energy market”.

Captured rebel leader

Mozambican security forces carried out a major attack on a base of an Islamist militant group in the gas-rich north last week, killing at least four fighters and capturing a suspected rebel leader, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The assault took place Aug. 16 near the village of Pundanhar in Cabo Delgado province, close to the Rovuma river that separates Mozambique from Tanzania, the people said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorised to comment publicly on an ongoing operation. Government forces caught a man named Abdul Raim, who police identified this month as a suspected leader of the group, they said.

Known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, which means “followers of the prophetic tradition” in Arabic, the group has been carrying out attacks in the north of Cabo Delgado since October, killing dozens of people, burning hundreds of houses, and forcing thousands to flee their villages. The raids have created security concerns for companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which plan to develop natural gas projects worth tens of billions of dollars in the region.

The group wants Sharia law introduced and comprises Mozambicans, Tanzanians and people from other countries in the region, according to researchers. They have beheaded many of their victims in night raids on villages.

Some roads out of Palma, where the gas projects are based, were closed on Aug. 17, the people said. Several militants tried to escape across the Rovuma river, and Mozambican authorities are cooperating with officials in Tanzania to intercept them, according to one of the people.