Luanda, Sept. 27, 2024 (Lusa) - More than 500,000 solar panels, installed in the Biópio commune, Benguela province, in central Angola, generate 144.9 megawatts and benefit almost a million Angolans, an investment of US$500 million for a set of seven solar power plants.
According to the director of the Biópio Photovoltaic Centre, Nilton de Carvalho, the solar panels occupy an area of 360 hectares and generate 144.9 megawatts of energy, reinforcing the central and northern regional system from 2022.
He emphasised that the government is committed to diversifying its energy matrix, with a focus on clean energies, highlighting the existence of hydroelectric plants "with a lot of power generation", such as the large dams at Laúca, Kapanda, Cambambe and soon Caculo Cabaça, as well as the large solar plants.
The director of the Biópio Photovoltaic Centre admitted that there are still communities, especially in rural areas, without access to energy, but the government has been investing in setting up other plants to make up the shortfall in these locations.
"We're part of the 220 kilovolt network in the central region, where ten provinces are interconnected and which are supplied by both clean hydroelectric energy and solar power stations," he stressed.
According to Nilton de Carvalho, all this energy from the centre region is expected to be interconnected to the line in the south "and in the future it could be in the east".
"It's a line that could be awarded to the whole country," he emphasised.
The Biópio Photovoltaic Plant was a project developed by Sun Africa, a United States multinational focused on renewable energy solutions, which has been present in Angola since 2018, working in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Water.
According to the Sun Africa representative at the Conference on Coordination of Support for the Lobito Corridor, held on Wednesday in Benguela, an initiative of Power Africa, the project envisages the implementation of seven solar power plants.
"It was external funding from SEK, a Swedish export credit agency, which is around US$500 million (€447.8 million) for a set of seven plants totalling 370 megawatts," said Eguinilson da Silva.
Eguinilson da Silva emphasised that in view of the success achieved in the development of the Biópio plant, the Angolan government has already identified other needs in more remote areas.
"It has also asked us to develop mini-grids for locations around the country that are not yet interconnected by the national system, in order to meet needs more quickly," he emphasised.
According to Eguinilson da Silva, this project is close to being implemented with the recently approved funding of US$1.6 billion (€1.4 billion) from the US EximBank for the installation of 65 mini-grids in the south of the country, with an installed capacity of 220 megawatts.
In Angola, Sun Africa has already developed projects in the provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Moxico.
NME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
