Mozambique completes prequalification of investors for 4.5-bln-USD hydroelectric project

MAPUTO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique concluded Tuesday the prequalification of seven potential investors for the development of the Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project (MNK), a 4.5-billion-U.S. dollar project on the Zambezi River in the western province of Tete.

The announcement was made at the end of an investors' conference in Maputo, the capital city, where the director-general of the project's implementation office Carlos Yum said that in the next two days the pre-qualified bidders, including two individual companies and five large consortiums, will visit the sites in Tete where the project will be implemented.

The visit will allow investors to find out the natural conditions of the project's implementation site as well as data fundamental in the preparation of technical, economic, and financial proposals in response to the tender process, said Yum.

The government launched the tender for the selection of the strategic partner for the development of the MNK project and associated transport infrastructure in December last year.

The Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project includes the construction of a run-of-river dam 61 km downstream from the Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi River in Tete province.

As part of the project, a hydroelectric power plant with an installed power production capacity of up to 1,500 megawatts and a 1,300-km energy transmission line from Tete to Maputo are envisaged at the investors' conference.

During the construction phase, more than 7,000 jobs will be created, and 50 percent of the energy generated will be exported, contributing to the country's economy and making Mozambique a regional energy hub, according to the data released at the conference.