A revamp of Mozambique’s 50-year-old Cahora Bassa hydroelectricity power station is expected to bolster its capacity and efficiency.

Moneyweb reports that the project, which involves sourcing 433 MW turbines from Austria, will see capacity improve 4% to more than 2.1 GB.

About 66% of the plant’s generation was bought last year by South Africa energy utility Eskom; however, the contract to supply South Africa ends in 2030. Mozambique has previously indicated that it wishes to repatriate that electricity for use domestically, according to Club of Mozambique.

The equipment for the revamp of the plant is being manufactured by Vienna-based Andritz, which will take an estimated three years, after which the generators will be replaced one at a time.

The revamp comes as World Bank president, Ajay Banda, visited Cahora Bassa and said Mozambique could become Southern Africa’s electricity generation hub in the next 10 years.

‘I think this is a real opportunity. It is something we should work on jointly, not only with public money, but also with public-private partnerships,’ Banda said.

The Mozambique government intends building a second hydro scheme on the northern banks of the Zambezi river to add 1.2 GW to capacity.

Banda said he believed project, which has been on the drawing board for years, could go ahead with World Bank support.

22 July 2025
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