IFC, Mozambique’s EDM sign 50MW solar power generation deal

INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC) and Mozambique’s power utility firm, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) last week signed a collaboration agreement to develop small-scale solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plants and battery storage facilities.

Under the collaboration agreement, announced on the sidelines of the Africa Energy Forum in Brussels last week, IFC and EDM target to develop four solar PV and battery storage facilities across Mozambique with an expected total energy production of 50 Megawatts, dependent on the results of a grid integration and financial assessment study to be conducted by IFC.

The solar PV plants will provide power to the Southern African country’s grid and help to meet growing electricity demand in a country where only about 43 percent of the population has access to electricity, of which 40 percent from National Grid and three percent from isolated systems.

For EDM’s CEO, Eng. Marcelino Gildo Alberto, this project “signals the Company’s effort in the search for sustainable solutions to accelerate Universal Access to Energy for all Mozambicans by 2030. In this sense, with the commitment to energy diversification, we hope to generate, in the coming years, 200MW in renewable energy.”

“Likewise, with projects of this nature, EDM is at the forefront of the energy transition, in line with the Paris Agreements to reduce global warming,” Alberto added.

On his part, Dan Croft, IFC Regional Manager for Infrastructure in Africa on the Upstream team, which works on early-stage project development, said the project would increase access to renewable energy and expand power delivered to the country’s grid.

“A key priority for Mozambique is ensuring access to affordable, sustainable, and reliable electricity. By combining early-stage project development support and financing, IFC is working with EDM to support Mozambique to develop its renewable energy sources to help power homes and businesses,” Croft said.

The project is part of IFC’s work in Mozambique to increase access to power including by bringing on increased renewable energy sources.

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. IFC works in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries.

In the fiscal year 2021, IFC committed a record US$31.5 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

EDM — considered a business branch of the government in the energy sector — is the public company accountable for the electricity sector in Mozambique, having under its management the generation, transport, distribution, and commercialization of electricity.

Its field of activity, both the national and international presence, knowledge of the sector, and the central role it has played since 1977, the year of its creation, provide it with a positioning and technical knowledge that enable it to properly lead all processes in the Mozambican and regional electrical sector.