Mozambique seeks investors for 30 MW solar power plant in Sofala

According to a tender launched by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, which runs until 22 June, the Mozambican government is seeking a private independent power producer for the project. The objective is to give “priority to competitive and transparent tender procedures for the selection of private investors with adequate technical and financial capacity and an interest in developing renewable energy generation projects, leading to the selection of lower-cost solutions for consumers”, the document explains. For this purpose, Mozambique “received funding” from the European Union through the French Development Agency (AFD), with the overall objective of selecting Independent Power Producers (IPPs) “for solar photovoltaic and wind power projects with a total capacity of approximately 120 MW”.

The tender now launched aims at the “selection of experienced and qualified private investors to develop, finance, design, build, operate and maintain” a 30 MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Dondo, Sofala province, through the Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE). The document adds that the preferred bidders will be selected through a competitive public tender with a pre-qualification phase. Invitations to submit proposals are expected to be issued during the second quarter of 2026, when the project scope will be defined in greater detail and will include “strict local participation requirements”.

Electricity reached around 3.8 million domestic consumers in Mozambique for the first time in 2025, with average growth of 1% every month throughout last year, according to official data reported by Lusa in February. According to government information on the implementation of the 2025 budget, national grid coverage “expanded at an average rate of one percentage point per month, resulting in an annual increase of 10.5% in the proportion of the population with access to the service”. During the year, 418,064 new connections were made to the National Electricity Grid (REN), bringing the total number of domestic consumers to 3,769,004, a figure that “corresponds to a public grid access rate of 55.3%”.

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In addition to these figures, isolated systems such as solar power plants and mini-hydropower schemes accounted for 122,471 new connections, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 736,080. “These systems represent 11.2% of the population with off-grid access, resulting in a consolidated national electrification rate of 66.4% in 2025,” the report states.

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