What You Need to Know
Mozambique’s electricity exports plummeted by 41% from January to September 2025, totaling approximately US$318.2 million. This decline is attributed to drought conditions affecting the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant, which is crucial for the country’s energy supply. The Bank of Mozambique reported that electricity production also fell significantly, impacting both local and regional energy suff
Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s electricity exports fell 41% from January to September 2025, to around US$318.2 million, due to drought at the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB), one of the largest dams in Africa.
According to the latest report from the Bank of Mozambique detailing the country’s exports, these nine-month sales of US$318.2 million (€275 million) compare with US$535.3 million (€462.1 million) in the same period of 2024.
The central bank explains that this export was influenced “by adverse hydrological conditions and technical problems recorded at one of the main suppliers, which limited the volume of energy available for export.”
Since then, the current rainy season in Mozambique has already allowed HCB to more than double the water levels stored in the reservoir, after historic lows caused by the drought.
“We are now recovering. We are approaching 50% [of capacity], and probably by the end of the rainy season, later this month, we will be very close to 50%, coming from 20%,” said HCB chairman Tomás Matola on 17 March.
Matola admitted that this recovery was mainly influenced by rainfall “upstream of the reservoir,” with tributaries being “determinant for this recovery.”
“Later, throughout the year, we will produce using this storage. We will reduce until the end of the year, but we believe that in the next rainy season we will have another recovery until we reach the desired storage levels again,” he said, expressing confidence that the reservoir and other projects in this energy ‘hub,’ such as the neighbouring new Mphanda Nkuwa dam—also on the Zambezi River in Tete province, with 1,500 MW—will meet the needs of ongoing projects and neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Eswatini.
“And, above all, South Africa, where demand is very high. It is much higher compared to all other countries in the region. Therefore, with these projects, we understand that we will indeed be an energy hub in the region. HCB alone, in our vision until 2034, will reach a capacity of up to 4,000 MW [currently 2,075 MW],” Matola added, referring to plans for a new plant and a solar park.
Electricity production in Mozambique fell 25% in 2025, influenced by the lack of water in the HCB reservoir, following the “worst rainfall record” in 43 years, according to official information previously reported by Lusa.
In a 2025 budget execution report, the government states that total electricity production in the country was 14,408,381 MegaWatt-hours (MWh), an execution of 76.7% relative to the annual plan and 25.4% lower than in 2024.
“The low production was largely due to the poor performance of hydroelectric plants, which during the period under analysis registered a degree of execution of 72.3% and a decrease of 30.7% compared to the same period in 2024,” the document reads.
The country “is the largest producer of hydroelectricity in southern Africa” and “almost all of its production comes from HCB,” supplemented by other small dams under the management of Electricidade de Moçambique, the report adds.
In 2025, according to the same text, hydroelectric plants generated 11,207,934 MWh, down 30.7% from 2024, a performance largely explained by “the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which has affected the HCB plant since 2023.”
“The lack of precipitation in the Zambezi basin [where HCB operates] reduced water availability in the country’s main reservoirs (Corumana, Mavuzi, and Chicamba), culminating in the 2024/25 hydrological year with the worst rainfall record of the last 43 years,” the central bank report adds.
The lack of affordable energy availability was also at the centre of a dispute that led Mozal, the country’s largest industry, to suspend activity from 15 March, affecting more than 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Mozambique has historically relied on hydroelectric power, primarily from the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant, which is one of the largest in Africa. The country is the largest producer of hydroelectricity in southern Africa, with nearly all production stemming from this facility. However, recent years have seen significant challenges due to climate conditions, particularly droughts that have severely impacted water levels and electricity generation capacity. The El Niño phenomenon has further exacerbated these issues, leading to the worst rainfall records in over four decades, significantly affecting the energy sector.
