At the invitation of the USTDA – United States Trade and Development Agency, MOTRACO participated in the Southern Africa Grid Security Reverse Trade Mission, held in the cities of Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas, in the United States, between August 30 and September 4, 2026.
The main objective of the mission was to familiarise African leaders in the electricity sector with the US energy sector by providing direct contact with new technologies, services and best practices applied to the modernisation, operation and security of electricity networks.
The initiative brought together representatives from the public and private sectors of Mozambique, Angola, Zambia and Botswana, and also established a platform for exchanging experiences on the challenges and opportunities associated with the development and security of electrical systems in the Southern African region.
MOTRACO was represented by its Operations Engineers, Virgilio Laisse and Elton Sitoe, who had the opportunity to share the experience accumulated by the company over more than 25 years of operation of an international electricity transmission system, which connects Mozambique to the Southern African region through high-voltage transmission infrastructures linked to South Africa and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Throughout the mission, the delegation conducted technical visits and working meetings with different suppliers of technology, service providers, energy companies and institutions related to the regulation and development of the energy sector in Colorado and Texas. Among the entities visited are GridNXT at SolarTAC, U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory of the Rockies, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy, Itron, Oracle, ERCOT, SEL, AVEVA, CTC Global, RMI and Odyssey.
These interactions have made it possible to know different approaches used in the US electrical system and to analyze technologies and practices with potential to contribute to addressing the challenges faced by African power networks, in particular in the areas of network and infrastructure security, infrastructure modernisation, digitisation, operational efficiency and integration of new energy sources.
One of the most prominent aspects during the mission was the growing role of renewable energy in the US energy matrix and the challenges associated with its safe and sustainable integration into the network. Discussions highlighted the importance of reconciling energy transition and environmental targets with security of supply, network resilience and economic sustainability of the electricity sector.
For MOTRACO, as a transmission company, the mission made it possible to reaffirm the importance of its traditional role in establishing the link between generation and cargo, ensuring safe and reliable energy transport and contributing to the regional integration of electrical systems.
In a context of transformation of the energy sector, MOTRACO also reaffirms its readiness to facilitate the integration of new sources of energy generation, taking advantage of its experience in cross-border transmission and interconnections to contribute to an increasingly secure, resilient, integrated and prepared regional network for the challenges of energy transition.
Participation in this mission thus represented an important opportunity for learning, sharing experiences, establishing contacts and identifying solutions and opportunities for cooperation, strengthening MOTRACO’s commitment to network innovation and security and sustainable development of the electricity sector in Mozambique and the region.
