Africa-Press – Angola. The President of International Business of China Gezhouba Group CO. LTD, which includes the company CGGC, the contractor responsible for the execution of the Caculo Cabaça dam, in Cambambe, Cuanza-Norte, Deng Yinqi, guaranteed, on Monday (7), in Luanda, the completion of that project in October 2026 , as provided for in the deadline.
Deng Yinqi gave the guarantee to the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, yesterday, during an audience granted to him at the Presidential Palace, in Cidade Alta.
The Asian official, who was accompanied, in this audience, by the Chinese ambassador to Angola, Gong Tao, presented to the President of the Republic the status of the Caculo Cabaça and Luachimo project, whose two of the four turbines should start operating between the finals this month and the beginning of the next, initially supplying electricity to the city of Dundo.
The Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, who was present at the meeting, told the press, at the end of the hearing, that the first machine in Caculo Cabaça, with 500 megawatts, was also guaranteed.
Despite projects of this dimension being highly complex, João Baptista Borges said there was no doubt about the completion of the Caculo Cabaça dam within the expected time frame, given the construction company’s experience in assembling projects of this nature.
“They are the main builders of the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, which is the Three Gorges, in China”, he said.
The Minister of Energy and Water said that the contract signed with the contractor, valued at around US$4.5 billion, includes, in addition to the construction of the dam, all the transport lines, in a total of more than 1,300 kilometres.
In addition, he continued, there is another contract with a German company to supply all the electromechanical equipment, namely turbines, alternators, gates and others.
João Baptista Borges pointed out that both the Caculo Cabaça dam and the Luachimo dam, budgeted at around US$160 million, are being coordinated in two areas: for production and outflow and distribution, with the main focus, as said, it falls to the expansion of the national electrical system.
“This system will leave the Center for the South, via the Huambo-Lubango link and, later, Lubango-Cahama and Cahama-Ondjiva”, said the minister, adding that, for the East direction, the line will focus on Malanje- Xamuteba-Saurimo, with the integration of the three provinces of the East.
He continued that, within the scope of this strategy, the connection to Menongue, via Huambo, will also be ensured.
“With this integration of the other provinces, we will, naturally, have the possibility of exploring this great potential that has already been built with Laúca, with Cambambe and the photovoltaic parks that we are building”, he clarified.
“Basically, what matters now is to take energy to distant points, where we still have diesel consumption. This is a great priority”, he assured.
The completion of the work on the Caculo Cabaça dam will significantly reduce the deficit in electricity consumption in the country by 66 percent, generating a power of 5,700 megawatts.
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