Africa-Press – Angola. The photovoltaic power plant in the municipality of Lucapa, Lunda-Norte province, with a capacity to produce 7.19 megawatts of clean energy, was inaugurated Saturday by the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges.
The energy project will ensure the supply of electricity, via the solar system, to more than 24,000 inhabitants of the municipality of Lucapa, which is more than 100 kilometers from the city of Dundo.
It also covers the expansion of the distribution network to 1,700 household connections and public lighting.
The plant was installed on an area of 13.52 hectares and is valued at €19,706,428, 80 percent of which was financed by Sweden and 20 percent by South Africa.
It comprises 12,092 solar panels, ten transformer stations (PT) and 600 lampposts for public lighting.
With the plant now operational, the state will save 4,933,371 liters of fuel per year.
This is the first plant that will guarantee the population access to energy from the public grid in the municipality, after more than 30 years of dependence on private generators, which cost an average of 30,000 to 40,000 kwanzas per month for consumption.
Angola is pioneering the installation of renewable energy, with seven projects in the provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Moxico, Benguela, Bié, and Huambo.
The authorities predict that solar energy will benefit around 1.2 million families across the country, with a view to promoting access to clean and cheap electricity.
In addition to Lucapa, construction is underway in the province of the photovoltaic power plant in the municipality of Cafunfu, designed to produce 41.40 megawatts and an additional 101.80 MW stored in batteries for nighttime production, with a completion level of around 70 percent.
The Cafunfu electricity project is part of the Rural Electrification program, which plans to build around 15 photovoltaic power plants in the same number of municipalities, benefiting 74,368 families.
Currently, the province of Lunda Norte has 76.19 megawatts of electrical energy available, 27 of which come from the Luachimo hydroelectric dam, 42 from the Dundo thermal power plants, and 7.19 from the Lucapa photovoltaic plant.
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