The French energy company TotalEnergies plans to make a final investment decision (FID) on a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal planned for the port of Matola in Mozambique by September next year, the spokesman said.
The Matola terminal could become South Africa's first major supplier of LNG at a time when the government is looking to significantly expand its domestic gas market but is facing a gas supply crisis as the onshore gas fields operated by Sasol in Mozambique begin to dry up in the next few years. ..
TotalEnergies is teaming up with private South African company Gigajoule and Mozambique to develop this terminal, which is considered essential for South Africa's gas supply, at an estimated cost of $550 million.
The LNG terminal will receive gas shipments to a floating storage and regasification unit permanently moored in the port of Matola, near Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, although delays in finalising gas purchase agreements have delayed its development.
« Matola LNG vise à fournir principalement de l’électricité à l’Afrique du Sud qui est confrontée à de graves problèmes énergétiques avec des délestages récurrents (coupures de courant) et dont la production actuelle d’électricité provient de centrales électriques au charbon », a déclaré un porte-parole de TotalEnergies dans une réponse par courrier électronique aux questions.
Mozambique supplies most of South Africa's gas for industrial users via the Rompco pipeline.
The Matola LNG terminal is part of a larger project linking it to a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant with a capacity of up to 2,000 megawatts, and is seen as a key catalyst for developing electricity exports in the Southern African region.
Matola is separate from Total's $20 billion LNG development project in northern Mozambique, which has been disrupted by insurgents linked to Islamic State, although the French oil major hopes to relaunch the project this year.