- Operations and maintenance activity at the 41MW Metoro solar plant in Ancuabe district, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, came to a halt on Tuesday 7 June after the terrorist attack in Nanduli on June 5th.
Shortly after the Nanduli attack, the Portuguese EPC, Efacec, decided to evacuate all workers, including security guards. Efacec is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of the 41MW solar power plant. The facility has since June 10 been guarded by the Defence and Security forces.
Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, inaugurated the 41MW Metoro Solar Plant in April this year. The project is structured with French independant power producer (IPP), Neoen, owning 75% with Mozambique’s state owned energy utility, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) holding 25%.
The public private partnership is held under a 25 year power purchase agreement after which full ownership is handed over to EDM. The project was financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), with a loan of $40 million (€34 million), with the remainder coming from Mozambique’s government.
The project, which feeds into the Metoro substation (Ancuabe district), reached financial close back in Jan 2020.
Related news: Total Energies was forced to call force majeur at their massive LNG project in Alfungi over similiar insurgent attacks in the Cabo Delgado area in April 2021. Read more
This is an unfolding story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
