Cuanza Norte - Angolan head of State João Lourenço Saturday in northern Cuanza Norte province pressed the button that "symbolises" the authorisation to divert the Kwanza river to continue the construction work on the Caculo-Cabaça hydroelectric facility, with capacity of 2,272 megawatts of electricity.
The ceremony paves the way for the beginning of the excavation work in the open air for the construction of Caculo-Cabaça dam wall.
The work for the temporary diversion of the river has two (2) tunnels, and can drain a maximum of 3,400 cubic metres of water.
The project
Caculo-Cabaça Hydroelectric Power Station is located along the middle Kwanza corridor, where the hydroelectric power stations of Cambambe, Capanda and Laúca are also located.
The area of the hydroelectric basin in the dam section is 112, 663 square metres and the total expected average annual flow is of 591 cubic metres per second.
The reservoir, at full storage level at elevation (630), has a storage capacity of 436 cubic metres per hour.
Caculo Cabaça Hydroelectric Plant will produce, on average 8, 566 gigawatts of energy per year.
~This will allow an annual saving of 2.8 million tons of coal and, therefore, a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in nine million tons.
These reductions will bring considerable ecological benefits as they will contribute to the mitigation of environmental pollution and the control of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.