Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo met with TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne to review the company’s ongoing projects in the country, including the stalled $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.
The Mozambique LNG project, initially expected to resume construction by late 2024 and begin gas production by 2029, faced another delay. Last week, TotalEnergies confirmed that the force majeure on the project had not yet been lifted, pushing back the timeline.
Pouyanne reaffirmed TotalEnergies’ commitment to restarting the LNG project, which has been on hold since 2021 due to security concerns, Chapo shared in a post on X on Monday.
Mozambique, dealing with months of post-election unrest, recognized the Cabo Delgado project as vital to its economic growth, Chapo noted. He emphasized that the government is working to ensure the necessary stability for the project’s implementation.
The discussion took place during a two-day energy summit in Tanzania.
Pouyanne revealed at the summit that he and Chapo also explored potential gas-to-power projects for local communities and reviewed progress on a $5 billion hydropower project, which TotalEnergies is developing in partnership with EDF and Sumitomo.
Pouyanne pointed out that Mozambique must construct costly transmission lines before the hydropower project can begin, as these are essential for delivering electricity to paying customers.
He told Chapo that without a clear plan for transmission infrastructure, TotalEnergies could not proceed with the hydropower project.
Pouyanne stressed that securing large-scale investments for transmission lines remains a challenge. While international and private investors could finance such infrastructure, he warned that without proper management, transmission bottlenecks would persist.
African Energy Council