Electricity levels in the port city of Beira in central Mozambique have reached critical levels following a major breakdown at the Chibata sub-station in Manica at the end of January.

The public electricity company, EDM, has been struggling to repair the damage, but the situation is not expected to return to normal until mid- February.

The Chibata sub-station is a key link in supplying electricity from the CahoraBassa dam to the centre of the country. EDM has imported some power from Zimbabwe, but this is insufficient to cover the needs.

According to EDM chairperson Augusto de Sousa Fernando, the power available from the Zimbabwean imports and from Chicamba only meets 30 per cent of the needs.

EDM has in the meantime halted the rehabilitation of its own power station at Chicamba, on the Revue river, and has put it back into service. Both Chicamba and a second station on the Revue, at Mavuzi, had been taken off-grid in January, for major upgrades.

 

Source AllAfrica.com