Total will source and supply the LNG cargoes from its global gas portfolio, and supply it to Mozambique via a floating storage and regas unit (FSRU) that will be anchored in the port of Matola.
Works to install the FSRU will commence in June 2020, and are meant to be completed in 16 months. Thereafter, a feeder pipeline will be built to transport the gas from Matola port to the planned Beluluane power station, using the Matola Gas Company’s existing infrastructure.
“Greater availability of gas” is vital to get the Beluluane CCGT off the ground, said Bruno Morgado, CEO of the Matola Gas Company. Domestic supply is scarce given that “the fields at Pande and Temane will begin to decline in a more or less rapid manner,” he said, stressing “there simply wasn’t enough gas for this [project].”
Once up and running, the 2 GW power plant will produce enough electricity for industry and households in greater Beluluane, with excess electricity to be exported to Botswana and South Africa.
In the long run, the government of Mozambique is aspiring to turn the country into a regional LNG hub, selling gas on to island countries such as Madagascar and Mauritius.