- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will soon be delivered to a permanently moored Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), in the Matola harbour.
- This facility will be connected to a gas-fired power plant in the Beluluane Industrial Park and, via the Matola Gas Company (MGC) infrastructure plus connect to the South African gas network.
Back in 2017, Gigajoule, Total and Matola Gas Company (MGC) signed an MOU to move forward with the development of this LNG to industry and power project. Engineering design, environmental and social impact studies, stakeholder and market engagements for power and gas offtake were conducted and presented to Government as a feasible opportunity.
On 23 July 2019, the Mozambique Council of Ministers awarded two concessions for this LNG importation venture. Beluluane Gas Company (BGC) was awarded the first concession for the development, construction and operations of all the gas infrastructure needed for the importation and storage of LNG as well as the transport of the gas to the power plant and to the existing MGC pipeline network for further distribution.
The second concession was awarded to Central Térmica de Beluluane (CTB), for the design, construction and operations of a gas-fired power generation station of up to 2 000MW capacity in the Beluluane Industrial Park in Matola. The Beluluane Industrial Park is adjacent to the Maputo substation and Motraco power lines which form part of the Southern Africa Transmission Grid. Read more
The Joint Development Agreement (JDA), signed on 27 November in Maputo, will accelerate the process which will enable a Final Investment Decision (FID) to be taken by the middle of 2020. Construction shall then proceed and commercial operations commence by the end of 2022.
The gas pipeline network, harbour infrastructure and the connection to the South African gas pipeline network via the MGC gas infrastructure (BGC), will cost around US 350 million. The total cost of the 2 000MW power plant (CTB) that will be constructed in phases as the market demand develops, is around US 2.8 billion.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
