Zambia pays its electricity bill to Mozambique
The chairperson of Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company. EDM, Marcelino Alberto, on Wednesday 5th April announced that the Zambian government has paid off, in its entirety, its debt of 22 million dollars to EDM.
He was speaking during a visit by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema to the Maputo Thermal Power Station which is owned by EDM. This power station, inaugurated in 2018, is the largest investment in electricity generation for 30 years, and it can generate 106 megawatts of power.
After his visit to the power station, Hichilema said he was “very happy to see young men and women working there, running the power station and the control centre. This is the future of Mozambique, of Zambia, of the region and of the continent”.
The Zambian leader called for further investment in energy for the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region.
Alberto said a project is on the drawing board envisaging the inter-connection of the Mozambican and Zambian electricity grids. A viability study has been carried out, and measures are under way to mobilise the funds necessary. Alberto said the inter-connection will require 376 kilometres of 400 kV transmission line. This will cost 411 million dollars.
When the Zambian government stopped paying its accumulated electricity debt, in 2018 EDM halted all further supplies. Now that the debt has been paid, Alberto said, negotiations are under way for the resumption of electricity supplies.
The debt had once stood at 75 million dollars, but Zambia had gradually paid off the other 53 million.
