Aggreko, along with joint venture partner Shanduka Group, has officially opened and delivered power from its 107.5MW interim gas fired power plant at Gigawatt Park in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique.
The project was inaugurated by the president of the Republic of Mozambique, Armando Emilio Guebuza, during a ceremony held today at the project site.
The project is the result of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that Aggreko have signed with Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), the Mozambique power utility and with Eskom, the South African power utility. The project will produce 107.5MW of power to supply baseload and peak power to both companies until July 2014.
The power plant is situated in Ressano Garcia on the Mozambique/South African border, 90km north west of Maputo at Gigawatt Park, a development of Gigawatt Mozambique S.A. It is powered by natural gas from the Temane gas fields in Mozambique and its output is being injected directly into the national grid of Mozambique/EDM on-site via a purpose built substation. The power generated at the plant is being split between the two utilities, with EDM utilising 15MW and Eskom 92.5MW.
Both countries will get much needed additional power, and the project also underlines the importance of Mozambique as an energy hub for the entire Southern African region.
Aggreko has invested in the construction of a number of significant infrastructure projects to bring the overall project to fruition. This includes the building of a 1.2km high pressure gas pipeline, gas processing and de-pressurising infrastructure, a major substation and 1.5km of 275kV transmission line. The construction and commissioning of the entire project has been delivered in the space of 14 weeks.
Rupert Soames, chief executive of Aggreko, said, “This is a very important project for Aggreko, and for Southern Africa, as it underlines the benefits of countries working together for the common good. We hope it will be a pathfinder for other countries seeking to make the most of their resources to optimise the supply of power across the region.”
“While this is a temporary power solution to meet the immediate needs of South Africa and Mozambique, it is likely to have a lasting impact. It provides an excellent model for public-private partnership and cross-border collaboration that can be used as a benchmark for future ventures.” said Cyril Ramaphosa, executive chairman, Shanduka Group.
