Regional Transmission Development Project (CESUL)

The ITF Grant will be used for the financing of a study with three main components: the Strategic Regional Environmental and Social Assessment, the Strategic Regional Environmental and Social Framework, and an Institutional Capacity Assessment and Capacity Building Program for Electricidade de Moçambique. 

Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), the national electric utility of Mozambique, was transformed into a public company in 1995 with the responsibility for the public supply of electricity including generation, transmission, distribution and sale throughout the Republic of Mozambique.   EDM currently operates two isolated power systems, Central Northern system and Southern system; its total installed generating capacity is nominally 233MW but the available capacity is 157MW, comprising 82MW of hydro and 75MW of thermal power generation. In addition, there is a 2,075 MW hydroelectric power station at Cahora Bassa, which is owned by a limited-liability corporation Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and which sells electric power to South Africa, Zimbabwe and also EDM. 

Mozambique is in possession of abundant natural energy resources of approximately 10,000 MW in the Zambezi valley (hydroelectric, coal) and gas in the Temane area.  In order to develop some of these resources, mainly for export, the Government of Mozambique has launched major initiatives involving the development of generation projects and an Extra High Voltage transmission system for the evacuation of power to neighbouring countries within the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and also - to a less important extent - to meet the Mozambican domestic and industrial consumption needs.  

The CESUL Regional Transmission System will link the Central Northern and the Southern grids extending from Tete to Maputo and further on to the SAPP, where it will contribute to solve a severe power shortage.  It will improve the reliability of affordable electricity in the Southern African region as a whole, and in the domestic urban centres along the route, including Maputo.  Due to this new access to reliable electricity supply, it is anticipated that several large-scale industrial or commercial activities could materialize along the CESUL line route.  The development of the CESUL Regional Transmission System will be linked with the development of two large hydro power generation projects in the same province (North Cahora Bassa: 1,250 MW) and Mpanda Nkwua: 1,500 MW). In addition, two large coal mining projects (Moatize and Benga) are under development for the export of high-grade coking coal. All these projects and activities will have significant environmental and social implications in the Tete region which requires a comprehensive and global assessment of the implications from those different projects; this assessment will be provided by the SRESA study, to be funded through the ITF Grant. 

The SRESA study will result in an overall framework to maximize the benefits and minimize the environmental and social risks associated with rapid development in the area of influence of the CESUL Transmission System and related generation projects.  It will provide an over-arching assessment of indirect, induced and cumulative environmental and social impacts of existing projects, projects under construction and planned projects in Tete, related transportation routes, areas of influence and associated projects. It will also take into account all relevant documentation, such as the project specific ESIAs, RAPs and all other relevant information related to the generation power plants and coal mines. The prioritization of the sequencing of the new generation and transmission investments in Mozambique, which will impact the whole Southern Africa region, will be another asset of the study.