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dam-l Zim to buy stake in C Bassa Dam/LS
>ZIM-CAHORA
>
>ZIMBABWE, SA INTERESTED IN BUYING A STAKE IN CAHORA BASSA DAM
>JOHANNESBURG May 22 Sapa
>
> The Zimbabwean and Mozambican governments are soon to meet to
>negotiate the acquisition of a
> stake in the Cahora Bassa hydro electricity power station by
>Zimbabwe, Ziana news agency said on
> Friday.
>
> The news agency said the negotiations had reached an advanced stage
>and an agreement was
> expected to be reached soon.
>
> Zimbabwe's transport and energy minister, Enos Chikowore said the
>negotiations could be
> concluded as early as next month in Maputo - where he would meet his
>counterpart over the issue.
>
> Zimbabwe is understood to be seeking up to a 30 percent stake in the
>Mozambican hydro electricity
> power station.
>
> It is still not clear how much the Mozambican government is prepared
>to offer.
>
> "I am meeting the Mozambican minister of minerals and energy next
>month to discuss the issue of
> Zimbabwe acquiring shares in the power station," Chikowore said
>adding that his government had
> already made some headway in that direction.
>
> The South African power utility Eskom is also understood to be
>interested in securing a substantial
> share of the power plant.
>
> Zimbabwe is seeking a stake in the power station to boost its power
>supply hard hit by a lower
> internal power generating capacity.
>
> It currently imports 40 percent of its power needs with 400
>megawatts coming from Cahora Bassa
> through the Songo-Bindura-Dema 420 kilovolts interconnector.
>
> Negotiations for the deal are being done through Mozambique's power
>utility, Electricite de
> Mozambique and Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) which owns the
>power station.
>
> Eighty-two percent of HCB is owned by the Portuguese government and
>the other 18 percent by
> the Mozambican government.
>
> The Cahora Bassa dam is one of the largest hydro-electric station in
>sub-Saharan Africa and
> capable of supplying Zimbabwe with its entire electricity needs.
>
> Sources told the news agency plans were underway for the
>construction of another dam on the
> Zambezi river for hydro-electric power generation in the northern
>Tete province.
>
> The sources said Zimbabwe had been invited by the Mozambican
>government to partner in the
> construction of the dam - expected to have a capacity to generate
>over 2500 megawatts of power.
>
> [ index by subject - length | newswire root ]
>
>source: gopher://gopher.anc.org.za/00/anc/newsbrief/1998/news0523
>processed Sat 23 May 1998 15:30 SAST.
>
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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