Angola: The new Caraculo Solar Power Plant was inaugurated

As already announced by ALER in July 2022 and, more recently, in January, the Namibe province has, since May 30th, one more energy solution, with the launch of the new Caraculo photovoltaic power plant, built in an area of 33 hectares, 60 kilometres from Moçâmedes.

The solar power plant was inaugurated by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, and by the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges.

As reported by ALER, construction began in June of last year and was carried out by Solenova's consortium, which brings together the Italian oil company Eni, via its subsidiary Azule Energy, and Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company.

In total, 25 MW were installed, corresponding to 46,000 panels.

The Minister of Energy and Water noted that the inauguration of this solar power plant is a milestone for Namibe province, and it’s the result of the first public-private partnership in the area of renewable energy.

"This project symbolizes a new stage in the use of new sources of renewable energy. We are going to have cheaper electricity, an abundant and regular energy source throughout the year and, therefore, significant savings in the fuel we use to produce energy," he said.

João Baptista Borges noted that, each year, around 140 million litres of diesel were used to supply the two main cities of the southern region, Lubango and Moçâmedes. With the Caraculo power plant, he noted, there would be a saving of around 18 million litres per year. "This is significant," the minister said, insisting that the aim is to provide the population with cheaper energy.

The minister stated that this commercial relationship, between the public sector and the entrepreneurs of that consortium, was based on a long-term contract that they would honour. The revenues emerging from the distribution grid to consumers in the provinces of Namibe and Huila, will support this business relationship.

For the Minister for Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, the inauguration of the Caraculo photovoltaic power plant represents an important milestone in the diversification of Angola's energy matrix.

Diamantino Azevedo said that this joint investment also represented a way of making a more efficient transition from available natural resources to the production of clean electricity, with lower costs for the state.

"In this case, a marriage was made between technology and the sun, an inexhaustible source of energy, which should also be our determination to make a fair energy transition, eliminating energy poverty and guaranteeing its access to the most disadvantaged populations, as well as allowing for the development of a local industrial sector to improve the life of those populations," he stressed.