Energy drives industry. From large factories to mines, homes and manufacturing hubs, economic activity is powered by the regional energy mix. For decades, that mix has been dominated by coal, but the shift towards cleaner energy is bringing other fuels to the fore.

Natural gas is a vital – and growing – slice of Southern Africa’s energy pie, and the Republic of Mozambique Pipeline Investments Company (ROMPCO) is well established as a major player in the regional energy field.

‘We’re one of the most well-maintained operations in the world,’ according to Mlandzeni Boyce, CEO of ROMPCO. ‘When we benchmark ourselves, we don’t do so against South African or African standards. We do it against the best in the world.’

ROMPCO is a model of cross-border co-operation. The company was born from an agreement between the governments of Mozambique and SA in 2000 to transport natural gas from the Pande and Temane gas fields in Mozambique via the 865 km Mozambique-Secunda Pipeline (MSP) to markets in both countries. A private company, it was established as a joint venture between the SA government (represented by iGas), the Mozambican government (represented by CMG), and Sasol.

‘Our three key shareholders sit across the public and private sectors, and each has its own interests,’ says Boyce. ‘What sets ROMPCO apart is its vision “to be the leading Southern African gas transmission and infrastructure company that transforms the communities we operate in and develops the energy industry through provision of sustainable gas supply and innovative solutions to our markets”, and the values of the company. We strike the balance by sitting with our stakeholders to understand their needs and reminding them that they are each a part of the puzzle – if not the whole. We will try by all means to bring their various interests into our vision, but it has to be with the view to taking the business forward.’

Boyce sees the public-private partnership not as a weakness, but as a strength. ‘As a private-sector entity, we tend to bring the skill and the capital, especially when it comes to new projects,’ he says. ‘We then leverage our government shareholders from a policymaking and regulation point of view. In that way, a project that might take six years can be brought to close in four years, simply because everyone is aligned.’

The MSP is a vital element of Southern Africa’s energy ecosystem. ROMPCO’s daily operations deliver an uninterrupted natural gas supply to homes and businesses in the region, reducing dependency on coal and contributing to the region’s decarbonisation goals.

Boyce has a deep understanding of gas’ growing role in Southern Africa’s energy mix, and ROMPCO’s role in the region’s energy security. ‘The reality in Africa is that 600 million people don’t have access to electricity,’ he says.

‘We see an opportunity to use ROMPCO’s existing network as a foundation, and to build out into Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and even into countries like Namibia.’

Unlike coal, gas power plants are able to ramp up and down quickly. This makes gas an attractive – and cleaner – alternative to SA’s gas-fired power stations.

‘We need to understand that South Africa is not going to become “green” overnight,’ says Boyce. ‘But we do need to consider the best energy mix that’s available to us. There is a bridge between where we are now and where we want to be in the future, and I believe that gas can be that bridge.’

This ties into the broader vision of gas as a transition fuel, driven by the potential of gas-to-power systems. ‘We are looking very closely at how we can assist South Africa in moving from coal, which currently makes up more than 80% of the energy mix, into gas-to-power,’ he says. ‘We know that this will not happen overnight; it will take time. But when the government is ready, we will be there to make it happen – as we have already done in Mozambique, where we currently supply two power plants that fully support gas-to-power.’

In that sense, ROMPCO is driving gas as more than a transition fuel, and more than a source of alternate, cleaner (though not renewable) energy.

‘We’re positioning gas as a fuel for today,’ says Boyce. ‘Today, we are able to move 215 petajoules in our pipeline. South Africa uses about 161 petajoules and Mozambique about 36 petajoules. That leaves about 50 petajoules of spare capacity.’

Boyce says ROMPCO is looking to double that infrastructure capacity to 400 petajoules, enough energy to power a significant number of households for a month. ‘We can install loop lines, or new pipelines that take us into areas that we haven’t never before,’ he says. ‘It all depends on the demand. If the demand grows, then we will grow.’

As demand grows, however, the region runs the risk of running off the ‘gas cliff’: a depletion of supplies in Mozambique’s natural gas fields. In response, Boyce points to ROMPCO’s plans to integrate re-gasified liquefied natural gas from the potential LNG terminal to offset declining reserves at the Pande and Temane fields.

‘There’s not a gas shortage in the region, there’s an affordability issue,’ he says. ‘And that issue cannot be resolved by one party alone. It will take a concerted effort from both the government and the private sector.’

Boyce sees gas-to-power becoming an ‘anchor client’ that enables further growth and development in the energy sector in general, and the gas industry in particular.

‘In the past, most of ROMPCO’s gas has gone to industry, but gas-to-power is a new customer. It will require us to operate our pipelines differently, and we’ve been training our teams for that. It will require us to expand the capacity of the Ressano Garcia to Secunda pipeline, which we are able to do.’

SA’s first large-scale gas-to-power project is expected to enter commercial operation in the 2030s. ROMPCO is preparing for that, aiming to provide the necessary infrastructure.

‘I think gas-to-power is where our future lies,’ says Boyce. ‘And by that, I mean ROMPCO, the energy sector, and the region in general.’

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