Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment was conducted by (a) her Department and (b) CDC Group of the potential for renewable hydropower to meet Mozambique’s energy needs in advance of CDC Group deciding to provide equity financing for a new gas fired power plant in Temane.

As sole Shareholder of BII (formerly CDC), FCDO appoints the Chair, sets BII's strategic objectives and also maintains oversight of BII. Decisions on the delivery of BII's strategy and its investments are delegated to the Board who are held accountable.

BII has stopped investment in the vast majority of fossil fuel projects and will only pursue investments in gas-fired power stations if they meet the criteria for exclusions in HMG's fossil fuel policy and fulfil the requirements in BII's Guidance on Natural Gas Power Plants, published in December 2020.

Temane meets the conditions for Paris-aligned gas power as per HMG's fossil fuel policy and has been assessed in detail as per BII's gas guidance which is consistent with those conditions. This included an assessment of whether the project could be viably replaced by renewable alternatives, including hydropower. Fuller details of the criteria used in such assessments is available here: https://assets.cdcgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/12145227/CDC_GasGuidance_December2020.pdf