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A 40MWdc solar photovoltaic (PV) project near the city of Mocuba in Zambézia province has reached financial close, Oslo-based Scatec Solar announced on 6 March. A 25-year power purchase agreement was signed with Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM) in October 2016 and financial close was expected in Q1 2017, but difficulties obtaining government guarantees delayed the process. In June 2017, Scatec Solar’s Roberto Berardo said the project had closed subject to the satisfaction of outstanding conditions, but more delays followed.

Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 5 March to enhance bilateral relations in the energy and mining sectors. The MoU was signed in Maputo by Equatorial Guinea’s mines and hydrocarbons minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima and Mozambique’s mineral resources and energy minister Ernesto Max Elias Tonela. This agreement is the latest in a series of bilateral energy cooperation MoUs signed by Equatorial Guinea with African countries.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has announced a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with EDF of France for 1.2m t/yr of liquefied natural gas from its Area 1 development for 15 years. “EDF is one of the world’s largest electric utilities, and reaching this SPA continues to validate Mozambique LNG’s position as a competitive long-term LNG supplier and as one of the world’s leading greenfield projects,” said Anadarko executive vice-president international & deep-water operations and project management Mitch Ingram.

A 6 February cabinet meeting approved the development plan for Anadarko’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin. The consortium partners plan to develop an LNG facility initially with two 6m t/yr trains to process gas from the Golfinho/Atum field in Area 1. Capacity will be expandable to 50m t/yr. The facility will be built on the Afungi peninsula in Palma district, at the northern end of Cabo Delgado province.

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) announced on 12 February a public tender to hire a financial intermediary to lead the process of selling a 7.5% stake in the company to Mozambican citizens, companies and institutions through the Mozambique Stock Exchange (BVM). The public offering was announced by President Filipe Nyusi in November 2017, but no timetable has been announced.

UK-based eleQtra invites expressions of interest by 7 February for the provision of international and local legal advisory services and environmental and social consultancy services for the development and financing of the Namaacha wind park.

Final government approval for the Mozambique Rovuma Offshore Area 1 Project development plan is expected shortly, according to partner PTTEP. Announcing its 2017 annual results on 26 January, the Thai company said the development plan was in the process of final approval from the government, which was expected in early 2018.PTTEP said the project had already achieved several key milestones, including government approval for the legal and contractual framework, as well as official approval for the marine concessions.

The 175MW Central Térmica de Ressano Garcia (CTRG) thermal power plant has been refinanced by a group of lenders who provided a debt package totalling $189m. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) provided $55m on its own account together with a syndicated loan of $42m, half each from the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and the Netherlands’ FMO. Proparco and Absa Bank (as arranger) provided parallel loans.

Spectrum Geo has launched a 2D seismic survey offshore Mozambique on behalf of the Institute of National Petroleum (INP) in anticipation of future licence rounds. The programme of up to 19,000km, first announced in October 2016 will be undertaken using a 10,000-metre offset with continuous recording. Gravity and magnetic data will be acquired in conjunction with the seismic.

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) said on 15 December that a consortium led by its 50%-owned subsidiary ShoreCan has been awarded onshore block PT5-B. The consortium applied for the block in Mozambique’s fifth licensing round, which closed in July 2015. ShoreCan and its partners will start negotiations with the government in Q1 2018.ShoreCan, owned by COPL and Nigeria’s Shoreline Energy International, holds a 57% interest in the consortium and is the operator.

ExxonMobil announced on 13 December the completion of a transaction by ExxonMobil Development Africa BV to acquire a 25% indirect interest in Mozambique’s Area 4 from Eni and assume responsibility for midstream operations. The deep-water Area 4 block contains an estimated 85tcf of natural gas in place.ExxonMobil will lead the construction and operation of all future natural gas liquefaction and related facilities, while Eni will continue to lead the Coral South floating LNG project and all upstream operations.

Brazil’s Vale SA and partner Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd have signed a $2.73bn project finance deal for the Nacala corridor rail and port project connecting the Moatize coal mine to Nacala port in Mozambique. Vale said in a securities filing the deal included a loan of $1.03bn from Japan Bank for International Cooperation and another $1bn from a syndicate of financial institutions.

Alternative Investment Market-listed Ncondezi Energy Ltd announced on 20 October that it has agreed terms in principle for a non-binding offer from China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and General Electric South Africa Ltd, which will allow the companies to begin negotiations to develop, build and operate Ncondezi’s 300MW coal power plant and open pit coal mine in Tete province. A formal signing ceremony is planned to take place in Beijing in early November and a provisional deadline of 30 April 2018 has been set to negotiate a joint development agreement.

The World Bank approved a $150m International Development Association grant to Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) on 28 September to improve the operational capacity and efficiency of its electricity network. The bulk of the grant ($117m equivalent) will be used for the reinforcement of transmission and distribution lines, installation of additional transformers to increase capacity, and reactive compensation equipment in the cities of Maputo, Matola, Nacala, Pemba and Lichinga.

CGG has signed a multi-client data agreement with the Instituto Nacional de Petroleo (INP) following a competitive tender process held in 2016. CGG will acquire a new multi-client survey of up to 40,000km² of 3D data over the Beira High in the Zambezi Delta, covering blocks Z5-C and Z5-D and surrounding open acreage. Marine gravity and magnetic data will be acquired simultaneously with the seismic to accelerate regional interpretation.