Government authorities and communities have switched to solar panels and photovoltaic plants to power health units, schools and water supply systems, reports Nelsa Momade Pedro The use of renewable energy by the administrative posts contributes to the reduction of fossil resources in a region that has potential for timber production and where forestry exploitation is rampant. Photo: Nelsa Momade Pedro Fernando Sozinho, a farmer and father of five children living in the far north of Mozambique, uses solar panels to sustain production of pigeon peas, cassava, corn and sesame on his 4ha farm. Before he got the panels, he and his family had to rely candles and bottles filled with diesel or petrol, causing smoke and other health hazards. “Solar panels have many advantages. We are able to charge our cellphones and light up the house. At night we turn on our speakers and then we dance,” he said. Like Sozinho, government authorities in the northern reaches of Nampula province have switched to solar panels and photovoltaic plants to power health units, schools and water supply systems. In the districts of Mecubúri and Larde, with 155,624 and 72,976 inhabitants respectively, two important administrative posts rely on solar panels to improve the life quality of their residents. The use of renewable energy by the administrative posts, Muite in Mecubúri and Mucuali in Larde, contributes to the reduction of fossil resources in a region that has potential for timber production and where forestry exploitation is rampant. Electrification in rural Nampula, the most populous province in the Southern African country, continues to be a challenge (see Nampula far from renewable energy goals). The majority of the population still relies on the use of forest products to meet their energy needs. The rise of solar power as an alternative is taking place in a country which, according to the 2012 Mozambique Atlas, “has vast energy resources from renewables and has a hot tropical climate. Its average annual temperature is 23 to 26ºC in coastal areas”. Izildo Nogueira, representative of the National Energy Fund (FUNAE) in Nampula, said it is building two solar power plants in the district of Mecubúri. The units take an average of six months’ construction and are scheduled to be completed by the end November 2023. “Also, at the administrative post of Milhana we plan to electrify more than 1,500 homes and in Muite around 500 families. The plants will be able to supply energy to close to 1,000 connections in this project, called Enabel, which is financed by Belgian cooperation,” Nogueira said. “In addition, the administrative post of Lúrio in the district of Memba has capacity for almost 160 connections. A plant was also built that benefits almost 45 connections in the administrative post of Namiroa, in the district of Erate.” Without mentioning the financiers, Nogueira said electrification projects implemented by FUNAE since 2018 in the various administrative posts are valued at a total of 60-million meticais (about US$940,000). Izildo Nogueira: Eectrification projects implemented by FUNAE since 2018 in the various administrative posts are valued at a total of 60-million meticais (about US$940,000). Photo: Nelsa Momade Pedro According to Nogueira, 100 health units in Nampula have been electrified by FUNAE. Before the lighting of health units, women in labour had to bring their own flashlights or oil-based lamps to help with the birth process. Vitória Josene, the nurse responsible for the mortality information system and head of the maternity ward in the town of Ratane, said the maternity sector had lighting from well-located solar panels. “Since they were set up we have never had a power outage, mothers show up more often to give birth at the hospital,” she said. “Now they are more motivated, the impact is different and they are informed in the neighbourhood that they no longer need to carry a flashlight when they go to the maternity ward.” The director of the Muite health centre, Amâncio Gonçalves, said the solar energy “facilitates communication because we charge our phones for emergency issues, and the conservation of vaccines. Previously we used gas and when it ended, we would sometimes have a breakdown at the district level and we would be left without these services.” Patients at the health ward in the town of Ratane said that thanks to the use of solar panels it was possible to give birth to healthy babies without any difficulty. “At night they had a lamp using a solar panel and it was very good to know that now we are able to give birth in a visible place and that we are not at risk. In the previous years we suffered a lot and gave birth in darkness, a factor that worried us a lot,” Tiloca José said.