Mozambique’s first floating solar project

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Mozambique‘s state-owned power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) has issued a request for expressions of interest to seek consultants for the feasibility study for a utility scale floating PV project at the 44MW Chicamba Hydroelectric Power Station, which is located at Chicamba, spanning the Ruvue River, in Manica province, near the international border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

“The services included under this project are to conduct a full feasibility study of a floating solar PV power plant in Chicamba Reservoir outlining … technical viability; … financial viability; [an] environmental impact assessment for the power plant infrastructure and interconnection lines and also the environmental impact on the dam and marine ecosystem; and [a study of the] socio-economic aspects of the proposed floating solar PV project in order to guide EDM and other local stakeholders in its decision-making process,” the document reads.

EDM has applied for finance from the African Development Bank toward the cost of the feasibility studies. Interested consultants will have time until January 28 to submit their applications.

If built, the facility will be the country's first floating solar power plant. The country Mozambique has extensive surface water resources, with many large, perennial, although seasonally varying, rivers and also lakes.

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Mozambique has not installed much solar thus far, with installations standing at just 55MW by the end of 2020, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. However, a number of sizable projects are currently in development.

The overall electricity access rate in the country was estimated at around 30% in 2019.

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