Southern African governments were also involved in an agreement stating that Portugal would build and operate a hydroelectric generating station at Cabora Bassa (as it was then called in Portuguese) together with the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system required to bring electricity to the border of South Africa.

During the struggle for independence, construction materials for the dam were repeatedly attacked in a strategic move by Frelimo guerrillas, as its completion would cause the lake to widen so much it would take very long to cross to the other side with their canoes.

Since closure, the Zambezi, which is the fourth largest floodplain river in Africa, has received a far more regulated flow rate, but disastrous natural floods still occur.

TAP assisted HCB in awarding the construction contract to a joint venture company comprising Consorzio Italia 2000 and Enel, and a scheduled period of 24 months was set for the project.

The line route in Mozambique passes through dense bush and difficult terrain from Songo to the South African border near Pafuri, with both servitudes infested with landmines from the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992) that needed to be cleared before construction work could commence.

The rainfalls and severe flooding during February 2000 in the Limpopo River valley again caused considerable damage to both lines to the extent that about 10 towers collapsed and need to be reconstructed within the shortest possible timeframe to restore the power supply to South Africa.

The suspension towers next to the river crossing posed a significant challenge for a temporary power solution to obtain the required clearances of the 711 metre level terrain span.

On April 27, 2009 four foreign nationals were arrested for putting a "highly corrosive" substance into the lake in an alleged attempt to sabotage the power station.

[4] The arrested claimed to be a team from Orgonise Africa, placing orgonite pieces in the lake to improve the quality of etheric energy (life force) of the dam.

In 2006, Cahora Bassa transmitted about 1,920 megawatts of power, but the infrastructure is capable of higher production levels and the company had plans to almost double its output by 2008.