South Eastern Africa (Mozambique)
The South East Africa region is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa, It constitutes about 450 million people and 22 countries including Mozambique, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe
Mozambique is a south-east African country with a long coastline bordering the Indian Ocean of 2,700 kilometres facing east to Madagascar. Administratively, the country is divided into 11 provinces, including the municipality of Maputo City — the capital — which has provincial status. These provinces are further subdivided into 154 districts. Mozambique has an estimated population of 34.6 million (2024), with about 59% living in rural areas, and a population density of 44 inhabitants per km². The national territory extends over 801,590 km² of land and approximately 13,000 km² of inland water, with a coastline dored with numerous islands. The country’s GDP per capita stands at USD 659.1, with a total GDP of USD 22.98 billion in 2024 The country is endowed with ample resources, including arable land, abundant water sources, energy, and mineral resources, as well as newly-discovered deposits of natural gas off its coast. Solar irradiation is particularly high — ranging from 1,785 to 2,206 kWh/m²/year — especially in Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Tete, and Niassa, with Tete approaching global benchmarks. Wind energy shows promising conditions, with average wind speeds of 6–7 m/s along the coast and up to 8 m/s at higher elevations, though coastal areas such as Ponta de Ouro and Mavelane remain largely untapped. Biomass plays a major role, accounting for about 80% of total energy consumption, primarily in the residential and industrial sectors, and the potential for biomass-based electricity is estimated at over 2 GW.
Mozambique’s Fundo de Energia (FUNAE), is the public institution responsible for off-grid rural electrification with a special focus on renewable energy and is directly involved in the Stakeholder Group. - There are six working hydropower stations across the country. The largest hydroelectric plant is located in the Tete province and is operated by Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and it is responsible for most of the hydroelectric generation, with a capacity of 2,075 MW. In 2014, it supplied up to 88% of the power consumed in Mozambique and about 400 MW to EDM.
- Due to the low electricity demand (peak demand in 2014 was estimated at only 831 MW) resulting from scarce energy access in Mozambique, the majority of the generation from HCB is exported to South Africa.
- Access to grid electricity increased from 34% in 2020 to 40% in 2022 (until July and total on and off grid access is 44%), however, still 17.5 million Mozambicans lack access to electricity in both
rural and urban areas.
In 2020, the total electricity consumption for industrial activities was 37,353 TJ; the residential sector consumed 5,437 TJ, commercial and public services consumed 134 TJ and agricultural activities 1 TJ. Electricity supplied from the grid, however, is mostly directed to residential users.
Based on 2019 billing data from EDM, the on-grid electricity demand in Mozambique is the
highest for domestic use (45%) followed by industries (37.3%) and commercial use (16%)
- About 95% of Mozambican households rely on solid biomass for cooking. According to the FinScope survey in 2019, the most common cooking fuels and technologies are firewood (used by 64% of adult population), charcoal (22%), grid electricity (8%), liquefied petroleum gas LPG (3%), solar energy (1%), kerosene (1%), private generator (0.1%), and others (1%). 2% either do not cook or do not use any cooking systems/fuels
- Grid connection is mostly concentrated in urban areas leaving a higher percentage of rural
population unelectrified. In 2020, only 4.5% of the rural population had access to electricity as
compared to 75% of the electrified urban population
- The total energy production in 2019 was 7,089 GWh. The sources in the mix were 52% from Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), 35% from other IPPs, 10% thermal (from EDM), 2% other hydro plants from EDM, and 1% of the total generated energy was imported from other countries; In 2021 there were no large changes in the mix, (51% from HCB, 34% from other IPPs, 1% Imported), rather a small shift in the sources of generation from EDM. At the end of 2021, only 8% of the generation came from thermal EDM plants, while there was a notable increase in
electricity generation from EDM hydro plants
Electricity
Local energy access: 30.6%
■ Annual primary energy consumption: 2.4 MWh per capita
■ Electricity production from renewables: 7.1 GWh
■ Renewable energy production currently mostly hydro: 52%
■ Hydropower: 81% of installed capacity.
■ Mozambique is a net exporter of electricity despite its low access rates (57 % urban
and 13% rural).
■ Mozambique has the largest power generation potential in Southern Africa from
untapped coal, hydro, gas, wind and solar resources at 187 gigawatts
■ Long-term average annual precipitation in depth: 1,032 (mm/year) (2020)
■ Renewable water resources: 7,317 m3 per capita (2017)
■ Water withdrawal: 50 m3 per capita (2015)
Grid characteristics
Electric power transmission and distribution losses: 27%
Other sectors
Industry: 10.3 TWh
■ Commercial and public services: 407 GWh
■ Agriculture/Forestry: 23.3 GWh
■ Residential: 1.5 TWh
■ Population with access to clean fuel for cooking: 5.2%
Energy transition challenges
■ Lack of energy infrastructure (especially strong transmission interconnection)
■ Lack of investments in rural electrification
■ High connection fee to the national grid
■ Rural areas disconnected from the grid (5% of rural population has access to electricity)
■ No transparent regulator