Angola hosts the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy in Central Africa

The headquarters of the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of Central Africa was inaugurated in Angola, on March 10th, and was attended by the Angolan Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges.

According to Jornal de Angola, the institution will be located in Luanda and will aim to improve access to reliable and affordable energy services, energy security and the mitigation of negative externalities of energy systems.

With this institution, it is intended to promote the creation of an integrated and inclusive Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) market for products and services related to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The institution will have the mission of coordinating the implementation of ECCAS policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

It is intended that the interventions of the Regional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Center of Central Africa are focused on activities and projects of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency targeted to cover one or more countries of ECCAS with regional impact or national projects with strong potential for regional extension or replication.

In an interview to the Jornal de Angola, the president of the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States, the Angolan ambassador Gilberto Veríssimo, revealed that the choice of Angola to host the headquarters of the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of Central Africa came from the heads of state and regional government, of which Angola is also part, because of the developments that the country has made in the renewable energy sector.

"Angola is one of the countries, in our region, that has better structured a really existing program on renewable energies, especially solar", highlighted Gilberto Veríssimo, noting that Angola has a program that is not very visible in the region, but "has an advance that was considered by the other States, reason why this decision was taken, in July 2021, in Brazzaville".

80% of clean energy in three years

Recall that the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, announced in December 2022, during his participation in the USA-Africa Summit, that the country's goal is to achieve 80% of clean energy within three years.

The Head of State mentioned that the energy that is being produced in the country, already comes less from pollutant sources, such as thermal powerplants powered by diesel or gas, and is now favoring, more and more, hydroelectric powerplants.

Besides the Laúca and Cambambe hydropower plant, the Caculo Cabaça is in the construction phase, which is expected to be concluded in three years. This hydropower plant is expected to have a production capacity of 2.1 GW of energy. Following this, João Lourenço said that the distribution grid, which is being produced in the Kwanza River, is also under construction and will be extended to the whole country.

The Head of State said that this energy already covers the whole North and Center of the country, namely, the provinces of Huambo and Bié, and at the moment, is being developed in order to obtain financing to transport it to the South, to cover the provinces of Huíla, Namibe, Cunene and, in the East, the provinces of Lunda-Norte, Lunda-Sul, Moxico and Cuando Cubango.

At the same time, the President said that Angola has already started the production of solar energy with the construction of photovoltaic power plants(PV), two of which are already supplying power to the National Electricity Grid.

The President also assured that the project of solar energy production will continue and said that one of them "will be built in southern Angola, to benefit essentially four provinces, namely, Namibe, Huila, Cunene and Cuando Cubango".

The president of the ECCAS Commission added that the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of Central Africa will develop all the studies related to renewable energy, as well as studies related to the interconnection of energy between different states to enable energy efficiency.

What is the Economic Community of Central African States?

The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) was established in Libreville, Gabon in December 1981 and only became operational in 1985.

The organization essentially aims to promote cooperation and self-sustainable development, with particular emphasis on stability and economic integration of the member states and to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of their respective populations.

It is composed by 11 member states, namely Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabonese Republic, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ECCAS Commission is funded by member countries and carries out several parallel programs in collaboration with international partners.