Mphanda Nkuwa Dam, Mozambique / solutions

Cahora Bassa power lines bypass Zambezi villagers (Lori Pottinger)

Mozambique has among the lowest uses of electricity in the world. Yet virtually all of the electricity it does produce from Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi is shipped to its wealthy neighbor, South Africa. As the government prepares to build another costly large dam on the Zambezi that will also power South Africa rather than homes and businesses in Mozambique, a new report lays out a saner plan for developing renewable energy sources across the nation that would share the energy wealth more equitably; diversify the national electricity grid to help the nation adapt to climate change (which is expected to significantly affect large hydro), and build a clean energy sector that would also spare the Zambezi.

Originally published in Green Inc. (New York Times energy blog)

Originally published in Zambia Watchdog

New Plan Shares the Wealth, Spares the Zambezi 

• From September 2009 World Rivers Review

Mozambique is painting itself into a corner.

Dams on the Zambezi have devastated the environment and increased poverty for millions of people affected by their hydrological changes, but done little to improve access to modern energy services for the region’s poor majority.

A gathering of Mozambican civil society and government officials, African dam-affected communities, and international development experts came together in Maputo, Mozambique, from November 19-21, 2007, to discuss issues arising from the development of large dams in Africa, how to apply the lessons learned from these past dam projects to improve energy planning in Mozambique, and to addre