SaoTome, June 18, 2025 (Lusa) - The Water and Electricity Company (EMEA) of Sao Tome and Principe announced on Tuesday that it owes around €2 million to the Turkish company Tesla STP and had already warned that the state was incurring losses.
At a press conference, the general director of the state-owned company responded to the statement that Tesla STP released on Monday, announcing it would suspend operations in the country’s energy sector from Thursday and claiming that the state owes it €7.5 million, figures that EMEA disputed.
“Concerning the debts, according to our accounts, which fortunately also coincide with the accounts of the Court of Auditors, they say that the state owes them an average of €7 million, give or take. If we deduct the payments made, including a deposit of €1.3 million, which also went directly to Tesla STP’s account, we have a total of €4.148 million in payments made. After deducting the amount of the debt they claim to have, we are left with a debt of only €2,854,000. This is the debt that we understand to exist today,” said Raúl Cravid.
On the other hand, he said that in 1 December 2024, he sent a letter to the government highlighting “some aspects to improve” that he had found in the contract signed with Tesla STP, and these aspects could be “interpreted as requiring adjustment,” as “stated by the Court of Auditors.”
Emae resubmitted this same letter on 1 January 2025 to the current government, he stated.
“That said, the Court of Auditors did its job and, fortunately, found the same things that we had already warned the governments about,” he reiterated.
According to Emae, the debt to the company “dates back to 2023, so it reflects a debt that predates this government.”
Raúl Cravid also clarified that, “Tesla STP bases its billing on installed production rather than on the energy it produces and delivers, and Emae delivers fuel to Tesla STP so that they can produce and supply energy.”
“In this regard, I must tell you that, in fuel alone, Emae spent more than €17 million on Tesla between 1 December 2023 and 1 April 2025,” he noted.
Raúl Cravid said he understood that Tesla STP has the right to suspend the energy supply.
However, “Emae will rationalise the energy supply for at least 60 days until we find solutions that ensure an adequate electricity supply, which could become necessary if Tesla STP proceeds with the decision it has publicly announced,” he explained.
On 7 June, Lusa reported that, in an audit, the Sao Tome Court of Auditors (TC) detected several irregularities, including overcharging the State, in the concession of a thermal power plant by the government of former Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada to Tesla STP.
According to the audit report dated 1 May and consulted on 7 June by Lusa, the contractual modality for Tesla STP’s energy production investment project “was direct award, with the project already exempt from any prior analysis or evaluation by entities with regulatory and supervisory powers in the field of energy”.
The Court of Auditors stated that “the General Customs Authority and the Tax Directorate granted tax exemptions to Tesla STP, its subcontractors, shareholders and group companies, and these exemptions reduced the state’s revenue by at least €52.28 million”.
The audit indicated that the Administrative Investment Contract involved a PPP and the parties signed it on 10 October 2023 “to resolve the country’s energy deficit”, and they structured it in three phases.
The first phase provided for the installation of new diesel machinery within six months, at a cost of €10.85 million. The second phase involved the installation of a multi-fuel power plant within 18 months, at a cost of €62,500 million, and the third phase involved the installation of a solar power plant within 18 months, at a cost of €23,592 million, for a total investment of €96,942 million.
However, the audit concluded that “Tesla provided no evidence of investment expenditure amounting to €10,850,000” as planned for the first phase of the contract.
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