CAHORA BASSA HYDRO DAM ENERGIZES SOUTHERN AFRICA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001018 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS USAID STATE PLEASE PASS USGS STATE PLEASE PASS DOE FOR SPERL AND PERSON DEPT FOR AF/S, AF/EPS, AND EEB/ESC AND CBA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG EPET EMIN EINV ETRD SENV MZ SF SUBJECT: CAHORA BASSA HYDRO DAM ENERGIZES SOUTHERN AFRICA REF: A. GABORONE 818 ¶B. MAPUTO 972 ¶1. (U) This cable represents the first in a series in an innovative collaboration in energy/resource reporting and commercial advocacy between Embassies Maputo and Pretoria. Embassy Pretoria Minerals/Energy Officer and Maputo Political/Economic officer visited energy/minerals projects in northern Tete Province and met relevant government and private officials in Maputo October 13-17, 2008. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The 2075 MW Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric (HCB) dam is the flagship power exporter for southern Africa, providing significant power to South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The dam is emblematic of Mozambique's capacity to increase its power exporter status to mitigate the regional power shortfall by development of a potential combination of expanding HCB and building new hydroelectric and coal- and gas-fired facilities (septel). Realizing these projects will require an extraordinary level of cooperation between South Africa, its state power utility Eskom, different institutions within Mozambique, and potential financiers. Cahora Bassa was able to increase its exports to South Africa and the region to help alleviate the power shortfall earlier this year. Some reduction in power dedicated to the Mozal Aluminum Smelter in Maputo has remained a controversial issue. The Embassy team visited Cahora Bassa on October 14. END SUMMARY. -------------- Damming the Zambezi - And Mozambique's Second Independence -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Cahora Bassa is a mega-project which dams the Zambezi River in northern Mozambique. The 164 meter height dam produces a 270 kilometer reservoir and an average water flow of 10,000 meter cubed per second. Five 415 MW generator-turbine-rotor units have a theoretical capacity of 2,075 MW. The project delivers power to South Africa and southern Mozambique by way of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) bipolar line running 1,420 kilometers to the Apollo converter sub-station in South Africa and via 220 kilovolt alternating current (AC) lines to northern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The Portuguese government (GOP) constructed the dam between 1969 and 1975, and maintained �0A;majority control of operations until November 2007. Full commercialization of the dam was delayed by the civil war in Mozambique when the main transmission line was damaged. The dam and power station were maintained, but unable to send power anywhere. The modern version of the facility was premised on Eskom providing 900 MW of its 1200-1300 MW allocation to the Mozal Aluminum Smelter in Maputo via separate company Motraco. Since November 2007, the dam is operated by Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB),which is 85 percent owned by the GRM and the GOP 15 percent. Just over 70 percent of the GRM's share was financed by the Portuguese bank BPI and the French investment bank Calyon. During the handover ceremony that reduced the GOP share and increased GRM control, President Armando Guebueza characterized the moment as Mozambique's "second independence." Canadian firm Manitoba Hydropower has an embedded engineer who monitors the day-to-day maintenance and operations of HCB on behalf of the consortium. ¶4. (SBU) HCB CEP Paulo Muxanga greeted the embassy team and stressed that his primary mission was to maintain the power facility and produce as close to capacity as possible, given growing demand in the region. Two of his senior managers accompanied the team to the dam, immense underground generator room, and sub-station (where separate lines feed Zimbabwe, northern Mozambique, and South Africa, the latter by rectifier/converter to HVDC). On this particular day, two of the generator units were under scheduled maintenance, simultaneous with servicing of the Apollo sub-station in MAPUTO 00001018 002 OF 003 South Africa. Muxanga noted that HCB was able to respond to the Eskom power crisis, ramping up an incremental 250 MW based on using the plant's fifth generator. He noted that this was intended to assure adequate power to Mozal and Botswana, but he complained that Mozal was initially subjected to the general ten percent industry reduction imposed by Eskom. The reduction was subsequently reduced to the current four percent, but the GOM is still seeking to regain the full allocation for Mozal. -------------- Sending Power to Eskom -------------- ¶5. (SBU) HCB and Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM) officials pointed out the following break-down of power deliveries: - - 1200-1600 MW to Eskom, including amounts going back to Mozal and EDM for southern Mozambique via HVDC - - 60-100 MW directly to EDM for northern Mozambique - - 100-200 MW to Zimbabwe - - 50-70 MW to Botswana 1600 MW is considered "firm" commitments of HCB and the balance is marketed to the short-term electricity market (STEM) and priced on a short-term basis to Eskom, Botswana Power Corporation, Zimbabwe Electricity SA, and Namibia. Zambia has requested up to 100MW more and Botswana has also requested additional power as it is forced to be weaned off of Eskom (Ref A). EDM officials said Zimbabwe also occasionally takes up to 250MW of "firm8 firm power on a "non-firm8 rolling contractual basis, and that Zimbabwe pays for electricity, but always with hassle and delay, given that HCB has a dedicated line to Zimbabwe which can also service Botswana and Namibia. EDM touted that HCB is the only active player in the SADC region STEM market, even though HCB has limited unclaimed capacity. (Note: The Southern African Power Pool assures modest interconnectivity, but has been unable to set up trading, for lack of excess power. End Note.) -------------- Potential for Expansion -------------- ¶6. (SBU) HCB's Muxango was bullish on the possibility of expansion of the Cahora Bassa facility to the north bank of the Zambezi (all the existing generating capacity is on the south bank),which could generate 900-1300 MW, utilizing the dam and other existing facilities at the company town of Songo. He said such a project would reach completion in about 5 years, costing roughly $870 million, and financing would be an issue. Muxango noted that the company was investing in road works around Songo to spruce up the image of Mozambique's second strongest company and brand HCB, after Mozal. He hoped that the GOM would eventually be able to move on green field hydroelectric and the north-south backbone transmission to feed power growth and independence in Mozambique (septel). ¶7. (SBU) The narrow Cahora Bassa reservoir extends 270 kilometers to the Zambia border. In Africa, only Egypt's Aswan dam is bigger in terms of surface water. The Embassies, team was duly impressed with the scale and power of Cahora Bassa, even being able to descend into one of the operating units and to be awed at the proximity of the power-generating water flow. Unlike the upstream Karibe Dam and Victoria Falls, remote Cahora Bassa is relatively undeveloped for fishing and tourism. Tete Province is dusty, dry, and hot and notable for majestic Baobab trees. -------------- - COMMENT: HYDROPOWER, MOZAMBIQUE'S NICHE MARKET -------------- - ¶8. (SBU) Mozambique's largely undeveloped hydro potential and its proximity to power-hungry neighbors in the SADC MAPUTO 00001018 003 OF 003 region mean that developing hydropower generation may be a key development strategy for Mozambique. Building additional power generation and export capacity could contribute significantly to regional growth and stability while enhancing Mozambique's economic development, thereby complementing U.S. strategic interests for the region. TDA should strongly consider assisting with feasibility studies and technical support, particularly for the Cahora Bassa North Bank project, which appears to be the most feasible next step in generation capacity enhancement. Realizing future hydro mega-projects will demand extraordinary implementation skills in bringing all stake-holders together, while the challenges include gaining a bankable power purchase agreement from Eskom, and ensuring sufficient transmission capacity. Domestically, Mozal Aluminum Smelter, Mozambique's leading export company, hopes for additional power to expand its facilities. Looking to the future, domestic manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture sectors could see accelerated growth if inexpensive power is guaranteed by increased generation capacity. South Africa has found that cheap power to drive energy-intensive projects may be a thing of the past, but Mozambique may still be able to leverage its abundant hydropower potential. Chapman