Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) has issued the request for proposals (RFP) to seven groups for the planned 1,500MW Mphanda Nkuwa Hydropower Project

Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) has issued the request for proposals (RFP) to seven groups for the planned 1,500MW Mphanda Nkuwa Hydropower Project.

The RFP was issued on 27 June, with bids due in October 2022.

MIREME is being represented by Gabinete de Implentacao do Projecto Hirdoelectrico de Mphanda Nkuwa (GMNK) for the hydropower scheme.

The following seven groups have been prequalified for the project (principal members are listed first in each group with consortium members second):

• EDF (France)/ TotalEnergies

• SN Power Invest (subsidiary of Norway’s Scatec)

• Kansai Electric Power Company (Japan)

• CHN Energy and Energy China Consortium

• Powerchina Resources and Powerchina International Group

• Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)

• ETC Holdings (Mauritius)/ ZESCO (Zimbabwe)

Synergy Consulting is the transaction advisor (TA) for the client, with Worley and Baker Mckenzie providing technical and legal advisory services respectively. HRA Advogados is acting as the local legal adviser.

The government entities are conducting a competitive tendering process to select a strategic partner to develop the project, which will be located on the Zambezi river, 60km from the Cahora Bassa Dam.

Under the proposed structure, the strategic partner is expected to be the majority shareholder developing the project, with government entities Electricidade de Mozambique (EDM) and Hidoelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) owning the remaining stakes.

The project company will sign an offtake agreement under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDM, along with direct and indirect offtake agreements with other potential offtakers in the region.