Praia, June 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The African Development Bank has approved a €19.6 million financing package to support the Phase II Windpower Expansion Project of Cabeólica in Cabo Verde, it announced on Monday in a statement.

“The project is the country’s first renewable energy initiative to include large-scale wind power generation and battery energy storage systems (BESS),” it announced.

The financing includes “a loan of approximately €12.6 million from the African Development Bank and €7 million in concessional financing from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA)”.

The original Cabeólica project was inaugurated in 2012 and Phase II will add 13.5 megawatts of wind power capacity and 26 megawatt-hours of grid-connected battery energy storage. The expansion is expected to generate more than 60 gigawatt-hours of clean energy per year, eliminating costly thermal generation and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 50,000 tonnes per year,” it said.

Owned by African Finance Corporation, A.P. Moller Capital and Cabo Verdean public entities, Cabeólica S.A. is the country’s first independent power producer (IPP).

Phase II of the project will be supported by a 20-year power purchase and storage services agreement with national utility Electra.

The project promotes Cabo Verde’s goal of generating 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as well as its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement.

LFO/AYLS // AYLS

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