Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Energy and Water, João Borges, said this Wednesday that his ministry will “eliminate” the electricity business in the municipality of Lucapa, Lunda Norte province, carried out by private parties, “with very high prices “.
Speaking to the press, at the end of the visits made to the Luachimo hydroelectric project and the Lucapa photovoltaic plant, the minister highlighted that the prices charged by private companies in that district restrict families with low financial power to access to energy.
He said that the start of operation of the Lucapa solar park, with a capacity to produce 7.19 megawatts, will be interconnected with an 8 MW thermal plant, totaling 15.19 MW.
“We are extending the Lucapa distribution network, to around more than a thousand household connections and eliminating the cobwebs, which are those wires that each one was installed to buy energy from private generators that sell energy with bills very high and that the population is often unable to pay”, he stressed.
He said that the work will take place until March 2024, so that when the photovoltaic plant is fully operational, the network will be completely renewed.
He added that an energy transmission line will also be built to supply the municipalities of Lucapa and Cambulo, with energy produced in the Luachimo hydroelectric dam.
Off-grid projects
On the other hand, he said that the Government plans, from the beginning of 2024, to build around 13 solar systems with batteries, in the interior of the province of Lunda Norte.
“We intend to eliminate thermal sources in the province of Lunda Norte by the end of this mandate, in 2027, to reduce the very high fuel costs,” he said.
He clarified that the projects will be implemented in phases, in the interior municipalities.
Eastern interconnection
João Borges assured that the north-east interconnection system, starting from the Capanda dam, in Malanje, is being built and at the moment, the construction of an energy transport line is at around 85 percent.
He said that the mobilization of financial resources is underway for the construction of the main substation in Malanje and two lines (Malanje-Xá-muteba and Xá-muteba-Saurimo), with 300 kilometers in length each, we are currently in a process of mobilizing financing.
He announced that an interconnection system is in the pipeline between the three capital cities of the East, Dundo (Lunda Norte), Saurimo (Lunda Sul) and Luena (Moxico), adding that the objective is to guarantee stability in the supply of electricity in the region.
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