Integrated Renewable Energy Program

Bringing solar power to off-grid households and public services in Cabo Delgado

Access to electricity remains one of the most fundamental development constraints in Cabo Delgado. While Mozambique’s national electrification rate reached 60.1% in 2024, Cabo Delgado lags far behind, at just 26.6% in 2023 — the most recent provincial figure available. The urban-rural gap is stark: nationally, only 6% of rural residents have electricity, compared with 57% of urban residents – and in rural Cabo Delgado the situation is even more acute. In many rural health facilities, maternity wards operate without power, forcing staff to deliver babies by the light of a mobile phone.

Sources: World Bank — Mozambique Electricity Access Report, 2023; Energypedia — Energy Access in Mozambique, 2024; INE, 2022; Government of Mozambique — Energy for All Strategy.

The integrated renewable energy program combines three approaches in the districts of Balama, Montepuez, and Namuno: installing solar home systems in households currently off the national grid; installing solar energy systems in public facilities, mainly rural health centers and schools; and promoting productive uses of energy, including solar irrigation and electric mobility for small businesses. A Mozambican energy services company has been established in Cabo Delgado to provide long-term technical assistance and maintenance to both households and public facilities. The program positions renewable energy not as an end in itself, but as a structural enabler of better services, stronger agriculture, and more resilient local economies.