Solar Home System Market Size in Mozambique
Solar Home System Market Size
As of 2019, only 29.6% of Mozambicans had access to the national grid electricity. This number is even lower for the rural population where only 4% have access to grid electricity, although 63% of the total population are living in rural areas[1]. Thus, the Mozambican energy sector presents an enormous opportunity for off-grid electrification using SHS and mini-grids Read more about the energy access situation in Mozambique here. A study in 2018 calculated the potential for SHS market to be 4.4 million households and this mainly covers the market for SHS with single light and phone charger. A detailed breakdown is shown in the table below[2]
Systems | Potential market size (households) |
SHS with single light and phone charger | 4.4 million |
SHS with multiple lights, phone charger and radio | 3.5 million |
SHS with multiple light, phone charger, radio and TV | 645,000 |
SHS with multiple lights, phones charger, radio, TV and refrigerators | 276,000 |
A recent USAID study from 2020 estimates that 824,000 households (i.e. one in every five households) could afford a SHS without any additional subsidy. These households spend on average USD 7.5 per month on lighting, which is also the average monthly instalment for Tier 1 SHS[3]. The three largest potential markets are in Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Manica provinces. The wealthiest households are in Maputo and Manica. Zambezia province is the poorest where only 8 % can afford SHS[3].
The table below provides an overview of the demographics and electrification rate in the 11 Mozambican provinces (based on 2017 census data)[4]