Promising future in Angola’s Renewables?

As one of the countries within the scope of ALER’s work, we are excited to follow the most recent developments about renewable energies in Angola.

As referred to in Zandre Campos's article, a renewable energy revolution takes place across the world and Angola is seeking an intervention to boost its own efforts, which is a great step for the country in several ways. In the spirit of this global effort, Angola released the Angola Energy 2025 strategy document that provides a high-level overview of the policies intended to raise its electricity access to 60% of the population with an expected 70% of electricity to be derived from renewable sources. The strategy dedicated an entire section to electrification for rural areas based on off-grid renewable technologies and included many key components of an effective electrification program using off-grid renewables, opportunities exist for improvement to ensure the sustainability of the program.

The hydropower is ongoing development, it’s an affordable, reliable and sustainable source of energy. Angola has hydropower plants along the Kwanza River, including one of the largest, called Laúca, which created more than 13,000 direct jobs last year. Angola’s hydro plants have the potential for upgrades, which help to provide even more power to Angola residents. Investors should keep an eye on this sector as it continues to grow and simultaneously contributes to Angola’s economic development.

The Government of Angola is also making efforts to be part of this growth phase in renewable sector of the country. The Government has received a USD 1 million grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) toward the cost of the Angola renewable Energy Program (AREP), and intends to apply part of the agreed amount for this grant to payments under the contract for Review of the Regulatory and Institutional Framework of the Angola Renewable Energy Sector for the establishment and operationalization of a competitive procurement program for Independent Power Producers (IPP).

The World Bank, through the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), will also hire a specialized consulting firm to design the cost of service study, which will include identification of the financial model for the electricity sector and the current tariff structure of the electricity service.

Renewable sector is growing in Angola and we expect good news in the near future. ALER will be on top of this theme to give you all the news. Don’t miss a thing!