Four Cape Verdean wind parks have saved 47,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions

In Cape Verde, the electricity produced by the four wind parks of Cabeólica, an ALER member, avoided the emission of 47,261 tonnes of CO2 in 2022, according to the company, which plans to start expanding production this year.

According to Cabeólica's 2022 report and accounts, the agreement signed by the Government of Cape Verde and Cabeólica in 2022 "comprises the installation of three wind power turbines with a capacity of about 4.5 MW each, representing a total additional capacity of 13 MW in the wind farm on the island of Santiago, as well as two energy storage systems in lithium batteries on the islands of Santiago and Sal".

This expansion project "will consolidate and extend Cabeólica's leading position in the renewable energy sector. We look forward to working with the Government in the execution of this exciting project," describes the company's CEO, Kudzayi Hove, in the message included in the report and accounts.

Cabeólica guarantees that "in addition to the environmental impact and in favour of reducing the country's vulnerability", this investment will allow "better use of Cape Verde's wind energy capacities, contributing to an increase in the renewable energy penetration rate from around 20% to 30% and significant annual savings" for Electra, the state-owned electricity generation and distribution company, and for the country.

In 2022, Cabeólica maintained the installed capacity of 25.5 MW with 30 wind turbines distributed among the farms on the islands of Santiago (11), Sal (09), São Vicente (07) and Boa Vista (03).

This production contributed to CO2 emission reductions of 47,261 tonnes, compared to 47,414 tonnes in 2021 and 44,400 tonnes in 2020, a performance that remains far from the 53,600 tonnes in 2019.

In ten years of activity, Cabeólica's production of clean energy has already allowed a reduction of about 559,864 tonnes of CO2 in Cabo Verde, remaining the company with the greatest impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases in the country, the report concludes.

Source: Lusa & A Semana

Image: Cabeólica