Angola looking at US$16.5 billion for electricity infrastructure

18 April 2012 – During the opening session of the legislative year, Angola’s president, José Eduardo dos Santos, made reference to 2016 as the year for the stabilisation of energy supply in Angola. In a recent public appearance, the country’s minister of energy and water, João Batista Borges, confirmed that development projects should be implemented until that time, in order to increase fivefold the country’s installed capacity, aiming to create an adequate national grid.

The investment is expected to be in the region of US$9 billion, for the installation of generation capacity and US$7.5 billion for the associated transmission system.

Among the various alternatives to be considered and in respect of which a serious medium term commitment is expected from the Angolan government are hydroelectric generation, natural gas, solar energy, wind energy and forestry biomass. Examples of progress are a recent project to build a wind farm with an installed capacity of 100 MW, as well as the rural electrification project Aldeia Solar, which anticipates the installation of more than 90 solar systems in the various Angolan provinces during the current year.

In Angola, only between 30% and 35% of the population has access to electricity; this problem is further aggravated by the fact that, in the majority of the cases, the existing infrastructure does not keep up with the development in the region, falling short of the necessary production capacity. According to Borges there is a need for investment in the rehabilitation and expansion of the existing infrastructure.