Johannesburg - Petrochemicals company Sasol, the Mozambican and South African governments will invest a total of $210 million to build a new gas pipeline by 2017 that will increase the amount of gas shipped from Mozambique to its bigger neighbour.
With the addition of the new line, 212 million gigajoules of gas will be piped from Mozambique to South Africa per year, up from 188 million gigajoules a year now, the Republic of Mozambique Pipeline Investment Company (ROMPCO) said on Monday.
The new 127km line will run parallel to the existing 865km gas pipeline for only part of the way. The existing line runs from the Temane gas fields to Sasol's Secunda plant in South Africa.
Sasol, which owns 50 percent of ROMPCO, said the natural gas is meant for, among other uses, heating in industries, re-selling to businesses and power generation. Pretoria and Maputo each own 25 percent of ROMPCO through local firms.
Africa's most industrialised economy is facing a shortfall in electricity supply, that earlier this year resulted in frequent power cuts that hurt businesses and deterred investors.
REUTERS