Luanda - The installed electricity capacity produced in Angola is of around 6,283 Megawatts and responds to a demand that currently registers a consumption of 2,375 Megawatts, Angolan president João Lourenço said Monday.
To reverse the current picture,as supply exceeds distribution, João Lourenço highlighted the need to prioritize investment in energy transmission and distribution networks, as well as in household connections.
“We are producing more energy than we are consuming”, the Angolan president said on his delivery of the State of the Nation Address, at the Opening Session of the 2023-2024 Parliamentary Year of the V Legislature.
The President specified that the national electrical matrix comprises 59.7% hydroelectric energy, 35.7% thermal energy, 3.8% solar energy and 0.5% hybrid energy.
João Lourenço highlighted that at least 63.6% of the energy produced in Angola is clean, generated from non-polluting sources and environmentally friendly.
The president added that the national interconnection project will allow the existing production capacity in the north region to be transferred to other regions of the country, reducing fossil fuels usage and operational costs with fuel and maintenance, also contributing to the environmental sustainability.
João Lourenço explained that currently the north and center regions are currently interconnected, with a total of 10 provinces being supplied and that the project to interconnect the South and East regions is underway.
“We are working to begin the project in building high voltage transmission lines, the Huambo – Lubango - Namibe, Lubango-Ondjiva and Humabo - Menongue connections. To achieve the interconnection between the North and the East, we will build the Malanje - Xá-muteba-Saurimo transmission line”, the President said.
These electrical systems, according to the President, will be reinforced in the future with the energy to be produced by the Caculo Cabaça dam – the largest of all, when it is completed and enters into operation.
“To reach the home of each Angolan family, we also need to pay attention to the distribution of household connections and rural electrification”, said João Lourenço, highlighting that the electrification rate has been increasing gradually and solidly over the last few years, having gone from 36% in 2017 to 43% in the first quarter of 2023, aiming to reach an electrification rate of 50% by 2027.
The president underscored that having more energy will involve the construction of photovoltaic parks in several locations, adding that the Caraculo solar park with a capacity to produce 25 Megawatts further expanded to 50 Megawatts in the near future, as five more parks are under construction in different provinces.
João Lourenço added that another 100 Megawatts of clean energy will be available in 2025, with the completion of the Kilemba photovoltaic power plant, in the province of Huíla.
According to the president, a broad rural electrification program is currently underway to supply electricity to the countryside with photovoltaic energy in several provinces, in a total of 126 locations to benefit around 3 million Angolans in rural areas.
The president added that electrification projects are still underway in several municipal and communal headquarters in some provinces.
“We hope to begin, as soon as possible, the construction of electricity supply lines and associated substations to connect Xá-muteba-Saurimo, Huambo-Lubango, Dundo-Lucapa-, Saumiro-Camanome, Gove – Menongue”, Lourenço said.
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