Africa-Press – Angola. Angola will be able to count, from this year onwards, on a reinforcement of 500 megawatts (MW) of available electrical energy, within the framework of the financing agreements signed, this Tuesday with Eximbank, in Dallas, USA.
The information was provided by the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, who said she hoped, with the materialization of these agreements, a real increase in solar energy generation capacity in the country.
According to the minister, who was speaking on the sidelines of the US-Africa Business Summit, one of the agreements provides for the construction of two solar energy plants and is valued at around 872 million dollars.
“When finished, it foresees a second phase in which actions are planned to distribute this energy, but in this first phase it involves the installation of solar panels to increase the solar energy production capacity”, he explained.
Data from the Angolan Government indicate that the country has made progress in the field of energy, and, by 2023, it had an installed capacity of 6,283 megawatts, to respond to a demand that currently records a consumption of 2,375 megawatts.
According to the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, in the Message on the State of the Nation, in 2023, the national electrical matrix comprises 59.79% hydro-electric energy, 35.74% thermal energy, 3.81% of solar energy and 0.57% of hybrid energy.
According to the data presented, 63.6% of the energy produced in Angola is clean energy from non-polluting sources.
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, but the Government intends to reach an electrification rate of 50% by the year 2027.
To this end, the Caraculo solar park, in the province of Namibe, was completed, with a capacity of 25 megawatts, and should, in the near future, be expanded to 50 megawatts, with five more photovoltaic parks being built in different provinces.
Another 100 megawatts of clean energy will be available in 2025 with the completion of the Quilemba Photovoltaic Power Plant, in the province of Huíla.
The Government hopes to complete by 2027 a broad rural electrification program already underway, to bring electricity to the countryside with the use of photovoltaic energy in several provinces, in a total of 126 locations to benefit around 3 million Angolans.
The Minister of Finance informed, on the other hand, that the country will benefit from another direct financing project from Eximbank and the United States of America (USA), to supply 186 metal bridges.
The bridges, he said, will facilitate connections in various parts of the country where permanent bridges are lacking, with a project valued at around USD 427 million, negotiated with the company Acro British.
Also on Tuesday, according to statements by the government official, a third agreement was signed in the field of media, in which Eximbank does not directly finance the State, but helps it obtain financing at lower interest rates, being the guarantor of operation.
Exibank, explained Vera Daves, sought financing from financial institutions, but guarantees the operation, to allow this financing to be as cheap as possible.
This is the modernization project for the National Radio of Angola valued at around USD 42 million, which aims to help expand the radio signal to remote areas.
“We believe that this will help to democratize information, take it wherever it is needed and increase the coverage rate to around 95 percent after the project is completed”, considered Vera Daves.
According to the minister, after the agreements have been signed, there are a set of precedent conditions that must be met, such as requesting that the Court of Auditors review the financing agreements and the PGR issuing a legal opinion on them.
In another area, Vera Daves reported that a process of mobilizing financing for the “down payment” is taking place in parallel, highlighting that, for most signed agreements, the amount covered is around 85 percent.
According to the government official, processes are running in parallel to finance the down payment, which are well advanced, and the expectation is that, at best, “in 30 or 90 days” the first disbursement will be made.
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