Angola inaugurates 50 MW solar PV plant
The first phase of the 50 MW plant at Caraculo is developed as an international joint venture with Sonangol and Azule Energy as the first solar PPP in the country.
Image for illustration purposes.
Angola, Caraculo: The first phase of the 50 MW plant at Caraculo is developed as an international joint venture with Sonangol and Azule Energy as the first solar PPP in the country.
Angolan government officials inaugurated the first phase of the 50 MW Caraculo solar PV project, the first private-public partnership solar project in the country. The project was developed in partnership with the Angolan government by Solenova, a joint venture equally owned by Angolan energy giant Sonangol and Azule Energy.
According to Solenova, the capacity of the first phase is 25 MW. Its development comprised the installation of 46,000 solar panels with 98 distributed inverters connected to 4 power stations, and the construction of a 60 kV Gas Isolated Substation (GIS).
The plant will reduce the domestic and industrial diesel consumption by approx. 18 M litres per year. It is estimated that the plant will produce 59 GWh in its first year, enough to power 12,000 homes.
According to IRENA, only 50 percent of Angolans had access to electricity in 2021. The country’s generation capacity is 4.5 GW, with the estimation that 68 % is from hydropower and 31.3 % from fossil fuels.
The Angolan government has announced that it plans to increase its clean energy capacity. At COP26, President João Lourenço stated that the government will increase renewable energy contribution to the electricity mix to 70 % by 2025.
Source: Energy&Utilities