Mozambique: Acwa Power signs deal for Moatize coal-fired plant

The government signed a concession agreement with a consortium led by Saudi company Acwa Power on 14 March for the construction of a coal-fired power station at Vale’s Moatize mine, in Tete Province, some 1,500km north of Maputo.The mine-mouth power station, which will produce 300MW in its first phase, will burn coal mined by Vale which is not good enough for export. A second phase will lift capacity to 600MW. The project will be run by Acwa Power Moatize Termoelectrica SA, a consortium whose main shareholders are Acwa Power, Vale and Japan’s Mitsui, along with two Mozambican minority shareholders – the Whatana Investment Group, headed by former first lady Graça Machel, with 8%, and Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), with 5%.