Floating power plant off Maputo re-emerges as gas-fired project after HFO plan blocked

• EDM and Karpowership are proposing a 415MW floating gas-fired plant in Maputo Bay, replacing a heavy-fuel-oil scheme blocked on environmental grounds in 2023.
• The vessel would initially operate for three years to cover delays building the Temane power plant. Its gas pipeline and grid connections could serve future powerships.
• EDM expects an environmental licence in the first half of 2027. Construction and mobilisation would take an estimated six to eight months; no generation start date is confirmed.
• Karpowership would fund the $20m investment, which it expects to recover through export revenues within 12 months; the domestic/export supply split remains undecided.

A proposed 415MW floating power plant in Maputo Bay has re-emerged in a new configuration that would run on natural gas, after the government blocked an earlier version of the project because its planned use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) was considered incompatible with Mozambique’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

The Central Termoeléctrica Flutuante de Produção de Energia, proposed by state power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) and Turkish company Karpower Global DMCC (Karpowership), would be located in the Espírito Santo estuary at the Port of Maputo, in Matola, Maputo province.

The HFO-based proposal was rejected by the government in 2023 after environmental campaigners, including Mozambican environmental group Justiça Ambiental, opposed the planned fuel.