Temporary power and temperature control solutions provider Aggreko officiated its power purchase agreement (PPA) with Namibian power utility NamPower at the unveiling of Phase 2 of the gas-fired power plant at Gigawatt Park, in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique, on Thursday.

The $200-million expansion project, inaugurated on site by Mozambique Energy Minister Salvador Namburete, makes Ressano Garcia the world’s largest cross-border interim power plant, with its gas-fuelled power generation being used by three national utilities.

Phase 2 has been operating since June and has added 122 MW of capacity to the facility, bringing the total generation output of the plant to 232 MW.
Following the announcement of the PPA in March, work began immediately to more than double the plant’s generating capacity. This was achieved in a record 12 weeks, owing to the company’s specially designed initial plant infrastructure, which allowed for modular increases in capacity.

“This project highlights the precision and speed in which Aggreko can deliver large-scale temporary power capacity to help our customers address gaps in energy supply as and when they arise,” commented Aggreko Europe, Middle East and Africa regional MD David Taylor- Smith.

He added that the project enabled Aggreko to supply power generated in Mozambique to three national entities, using the regional transmission infrastructure of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), which includes Namibia – more than 1 500 km west of the power source.

The additional power generated through Phase 2 would provide NamPower with 90 MW of mid-merit power, with the remaining 32 MW reserved for Mozambique power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM).

This is in addition to the 15 MW of power that EDM already receives from Phase I of the Aggreko power plant project, which started operating in July 2012. South African power utility Eskom receives 92.5 MW of the initial 110 MW generated by the Phase 1 plant through its own PPA with Aggreko.

Highlighting the mutual cooperation between the utilities to make this possible, both EDM and Eskom committed to playing a key role in transmitting power to Namibia. EDM would transmit the power over its network to the South African border, while Eskom would handle the wheeling of the power across the South African grid network to Namibia on behalf of NamPower.

NamPower MD Paulinus Shilamba described the project as an “innovative approach to securing an effective power supply for the people of Namibia”, which added to the spirit of Southern African cooperation.

“This unique project will contribute to the provision of a reliable power supply across Namibia and support the continued development of the country,” he said.

EDM CEO Augusto de Sousa Fernando welcomed Phase 2 of the Aggreko interim power plant at Ressano Garcia, which would assist EDM and its SAPP partners in temporarily bridging the power supply gap in Southern Africa until permanent plants are implemented.

Matola Gas Company supplies the natural gas to fuel the plant through its gas infrastructure at Ressano Garcia and Aggreko is generating power using a subconcession agreement with Gigawatt Mozambique.

“The good thing is that Mozambique is making money through monetising its gas early and we’ve been able to turn that into power for the benefit of the people of Mozambique and neighbouring countries,” commented Taylor-Smith.

The Ressano Garcia power plant is strategically placed on the border between Mozambique and South Africa, 90 km north-west of Maputo, enabling Aggreko to feed power to up to nine different countries within the Southern African Development Community region.

Meanwhile, Aggreko Southern and East Africa MD James Shepherd confirmed that Aggreko was in talks with several parties in the SAPP, including utility companies and industrial users, about Phase 3 of the interim gas-fired power plant project.

“I hope that by the end of this year we will be in a position to announce further expansion of the plant,” he told Engineering News Online, adding that the existing two plants will be in production, under the respective PPAs, until 2015, while renewal of these PPAs was subject to several main power plants – such as South Africa’s Medupi power plant ¬– coming on-line.