Mozambique produces enough electricity to be an important regional exporter, yet many of its own communities and businesses remain beyond the reach of reliable power. This contrast is the defining feature of the country’s energy infrastructure.
Large generation assets are concentrated around the Zambezi River and other resource-rich areas, while the largest centres of demand are spread across a country that extends for more than 2,000 kilometres from north to south. The existing transmission system does not yet connect these regions efficiently. Electricity may be generated in Mozambique, exported to neighbouring countries and then moved through external networks before it can support demand in another part of Mozambique.
The national infrastructure strategy is therefore focused on more than adding power plants. Mozambique must create an integrated transmission backbone, expand distribution networks, strengthen regional interconnections and combine conventional grid connections with mini-grids and solar home systems.
Cahora Bassa Made Mozambique an Exporter Before It Had a Unified Grid
The 2,075 MW Cahora Bassa hydropower station is the centre of Mozambique’s electricity system. Located on the Zambezi River in Tete Province, it is one of Africa’s largest hydroelectric plants and produces most of the country’s large-scale renewable electricity.
Cahora Bassa was developed primarily to supply South Africa. Its power is carried south through a dedicated high-voltage direct-current system with transmission capacity of approximately 1,920 MW. Electricity is also supplied to Mozambique and other regional markets, but the export-oriented design of the project shaped the national network in an unusual way.
Mozambique became a significant electricity producer without first building a strong internal corridor linking its northern, central and southern systems. Large volumes of power could move to South Africa, while the domestic grid remained divided and comparatively weak.
This structure still affects the country. Generation resources are strongest in the centre and north, but major demand is concentrated around Maputo, Matola and the southern industrial zone. Mozambique has at times depended on the South African network to move power between its own regions because the internal transmission route is insufficient.
Cahora Bassa is therefore both a national asset and a sign of the infrastructure gap. It provides export revenue and low-carbon electricity, but its full domestic value cannot be captured without stronger national transmission.
A 400 kV Backbone Is Intended to Connect the Country
Mozambique had around 2.9 GW of installed generating capacity in 2024, with hydropower accounting for roughly three-quarters of the total. Its high-voltage transmission system, however, extended for only about 5,700 kilometres, and just 367 kilometres operated at 400 kV.
The government plans to change this through a national 400 kV backbone extending for approximately 2,000 kilometres. The project is intended to link the northern, central and southern regions by 2030, allowing electricity to move directly between generation areas and demand centres.
The Temane Transmission Project is a major early section of this system. It includes a 563-kilometre, 400 kV line between Vilanculos and the Maputo area, together with substations and related equipment. The line will carry power from the planned 450 MW Temane gas-fired plant and provide a stronger north–south route through southern Mozambique.
The project is important even beyond the Temane plant. It creates infrastructure that can serve future solar, wind and gas generation along the corridor while improving supply to cities and industrial users. It also begins to reduce Mozambique’s dependence on foreign networks for domestic power transfers.
Further north, transmission projects around Chimuara, Alto Molócuè, Namialo, Nampula and Nacala are intended to improve service in the central and northern provinces. These lines could connect new renewable projects, mining operations, ports and communities that currently rely on weak or isolated networks.
Completing the backbone will require several construction phases, multiple financiers and coordination between power projects and transmission schedules. A generation plant that is completed before its evacuation line cannot deliver its expected value.
Regional Interconnections Are Central to the Business Model
Mozambique’s energy infrastructure cannot be understood only as a domestic system. The country is part of the Southern African Power Pool and already exchanges electricity with regional markets.
Its established links with South Africa, Eswatini and Zimbabwe support both exports and domestic supply. Mozambique is also developing new connections intended to bring Malawi more fully into the regional market. The Mozambique–Malawi interconnector includes a 400 kV line of more than 200 kilometres and is expected to support additional cross-border trade once commissioning is complete.
Further connections with Zambia and Tanzania are being studied or developed. Together, these projects could give Mozambique several routes for selling electricity from hydropower, gas, solar and wind projects.
Regional trade can improve the economics of large generating assets. Projects such as the planned 1,500 MW Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower station would be difficult to justify using domestic demand alone. Access to neighbouring markets allows larger plants to serve several countries while earning foreign currency for Mozambique.
However, exports and domestic electrification must be planned together. Building a transmission line to a border does not automatically improve service for nearby Mozambican communities. Substations, distribution networks and local connections are still required to turn a national or regional corridor into usable electricity access.
The Last Kilometres Are as Important as the Backbone
Mozambique’s electricity access rate increased from about 31% in 2018 to just over 60% in 2024. This represents rapid progress, but it still leaves millions of people without electricity.
Reaching universal access by 2030 would require approximately 4.9 million additional connections. Government planning estimates that the country would need to add more than 400,000 grid connections and a similar number of off-grid connections each year.
The scale of this target means that the national grid cannot be the only solution. Extending a conventional distribution line to every low-density rural community would be too slow and expensive. Mozambique is instead using a combination of grid expansion, mini-grids and solar home systems.
More than 700,000 solar home systems were sold between 2020 and 2024. Mozambique also had approximately 98 mini-grids with combined capacity of around 11.6 MW, although most were developed by the public Energy Fund rather than private operators.
These systems provide basic electricity in places that may not receive a full grid connection for several years. They can support lighting, communications, refrigeration and small businesses. Their long-term value depends on maintenance, affordable tariffs and the ability to expand as local demand grows.
The national utility, Electricidade de Moçambique, added more than 400,000 on-grid connections during 2024, while off-grid programmes added around 140,000. Maintaining that pace will require continuous investment in transformers, local substations, meters, service lines and customer systems.
Weather, Distance and Security Increase Network Costs
Mozambique’s geography makes infrastructure expensive to build and difficult to protect. Long transmission lines pass through areas exposed to cyclones, floods, intense rainfall and high temperatures. Severe storms can damage towers, substations and local distribution equipment, leaving communities without electricity for extended periods.
Hydropower also creates climate exposure. Changes in rainfall and drought conditions can affect output from the Zambezi system, while floods can threaten dams and downstream infrastructure. A more diverse generation mix can reduce this risk, but only if the network can connect solar, wind and gas projects across different regions.
Conflict in northern Mozambique creates an additional obstacle. Insecurity can delay construction, raise project costs and make maintenance more difficult in areas where electricity access is already low.
Technical and commercial losses remain another burden. Total system losses have fallen from about 29% to 24%, but this still represents a large amount of electricity that is generated or purchased without producing revenue. Smart meters, better billing, stronger local networks and improved maintenance are necessary to increase the financial strength of EDM.
New Generation Will Depend on New Transmission
Mozambique has several major generation projects under development. The 450 MW Temane gas plant is intended to increase flexible supply in the south. The proposed 1,500 MW Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project would greatly expand production in the Zambezi Valley. Solar projects are being developed through competitive programmes, while the 120 MW Namaacha wind project would introduce utility-scale wind power near the South African and Eswatini borders.
Each project requires associated transmission infrastructure. A new line from Namaacha toward Boane is intended to evacuate wind generation into the southern grid. Mphanda Nkuwa will require high-capacity lines capable of supplying both domestic consumers and regional buyers. Northern solar and gas resources will need connections to the national backbone before they can support industrial development.
Mozambique’s National Energy Compact estimates that approximately US$18.6 billion in financing will be required for its wider energy goals, including about US$8.7 billion expected from private investment. Mobilising that capital will depend on credible procurement, financially sustainable tariffs, reliable power-purchase agreements and a stronger national utility.
Mozambique Must Turn Power Corridors into a National System
Mozambique’s energy potential is not in doubt. It has one of Southern Africa’s largest hydropower resources, substantial natural gas, strong solar conditions and access to several regional electricity markets.
The central issue is whether transmission and distribution infrastructure can convert those resources into reliable domestic supply. The 400 kV backbone, Temane corridor, northern transmission projects and regional interconnectors could transform the system, but only if they are completed alongside substations, local networks and millions of new connections.
Mozambique will become a true regional energy hub when its export infrastructure and domestic electricity system operate as parts of the same network rather than as separate projects.
