Cahora Bassa Hydropower Plant achieves Silver sustainability certification

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) has achieved Silver certification under the Hydropower Sustainability Standard (HSS), becoming the second hydropower project in Africa to receive this international sustainability recognition.

Located on the Zambezi River in Tete Province, the Cahora Bassa Hydropower Project has an installed capacity of 2,075MW and generates, on average, more than 15,000GWh of electricity per year, playing a key role in the energy supply of Mozambique and the Southern African region.

The certification is the result of a continuous improvement process that began in 2018, leading to the implementation of several measures to strengthen the project's sustainability performance, including climate resilience assessments, new reservoir management systems, greenhouse gas emissions monitoring, enhanced biodiversity management and support for Mágoè National Park.

The most recent assessment highlighted the project's performance in areas such as worker health and safety, water quality monitoring, hydrological management, climate change adaptation, and stakeholder engagement.

According to the Hydropower Sustainability Alliance, this certification demonstrates how large-scale hydropower infrastructure can evolve to meet current international sustainability requirements, reinforcing Cahora Bassa’s role as a strategic asset for Mozambique’s energy sector and for the region’s energy transition.

More information here.