Energy Starved Angola to Build 150 Micro-Hydroelectric Plants

Angola’s Minister of Energy and Water Emanuela Vieira Lopes has announced his government’s intention to build 150 micro-hydroelectric projects at a consultative meeting of Angola’s Ministério da Energia e Água.

The minister assured those attending the meeting that the government had already fulfilled the necessary administrative procedures, but neither provided the localities for constructing the projects nor an overall time for their operational date, Agência Angola Press reported.

According to Vieira Lopes, the first public tender to select the building company for the first 40 micro-hydroelectric projects, will open shortly, adding that upgrading the nation’s hydroelectric facilities is a key component of the government’s strategic plan to improve and expand the nation’s power generating capacity and network grid.

Hyrdopower is not the only renewable energy option being pursed by Angola’s government, even though the nation is one of Africa’s rising exporters of oil. Vieira Lopes told meeting attendees that the country’s solar energy program will be implemented in developing a nationwide array of photovoltaic solar systems, whose first phase of 63 facilities is underway, while the second stage will comprise 244 systems. As for wind power Vieira Lopes commented that the government’s studies related to wind power in south-western Namibe province were nearly complete and that the authorities would soon launch a public tender for drafting a wind map of Angola.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com