JOHANNESBURG - South Africa and Mozambique are developing more gas pipelines in order to meet the increasing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in both countries.
Mozambique's Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Augusto de Sousa Fernando, yesterday told delegates at the International Gas Co-operation Summit in Durban that demand had shot up over the past 13 years.
De Sousa Fernando said South Africa had an opportunity to benefit from the development of LNG in the future by teaming up with other countries in the region. He said this would help to stimulate the economy and create new jobs.
Projects
“The demand for natural gas has been increasing since 2004 in our country. This is one of the reasons we are developing a gas pipeline between Mozambique and South Africa,” De Sousa Fernando said, adding that South Africa and Mozambique were working on ways to develop gas projects.
He said the region had a long way to go as it was still lagging behind the developed countries when it came to gas power. Andrew Herscowitz, a co-ordinator at Power Africa, said the gas market was progressing at a slow pace in Africa. Herscowitz said Power Africa wanted to support economic growth and development by increasing access to reliable, affordable and sustainable power in Africa.
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Boom
The project was started by former US president Barack Obama. “South Africa and Mozambique are going to be the cause of a boom in the economies in the region, and that bodes well for job creation and infrastructure,” he added.
“We estimate that Mozambique will stand to gain $160 billion (R2.2trillion) over a 20-year period through investment in gas power infrastructure, and the economy is expected to accelerate rapidly.”