Facility

HCB — Cahora Bassa Dam, Tete Province, Mozambique

Cahora Bassa Dam (Mozambique; 2,075 MW; operated by Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa — 85% Mozambique state, 15% Portugal; on the Zambezi River) is the primary electricity source for the Mozal aluminum smelter (Maputo; ~550,000 t/yr; operated by South32 with BHP and Mitsubishi as shareholders). Mozal was built specifically because Cahora Bassa electricity is among Africa's cheapest industrial power. The transmission line from Cahora Bassa dam to Mozal crosses ~1,000 km of southern Africa — passing through or near areas with historical insurgency and infrastructure attack vulnerability. A 2021-2022 Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado province (near Mozambique's northern natural gas projects) demonstrated infrastructure vulnerability; the HV transmission corridor to Mozal runs through different terrain but exemplifies African industrial electricity concentration.