The Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, assured, Wednesday (20), in Benguela, that the solar plants will replace the thermal sources of energy production.
“In this way, we will save 275 million liters of fuel per year, which represents, in financial terms, about 85 million dollars annually”, he said.
The country’s first two solar power plants, inaugurated yesterday by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, in Biópio and Baía Farta, will benefit 1.5 million Angolans.
The official stated that the two photovoltaic parks have an installed capacity to produce 370 megawatts.
With the projects inaugurated, Angola enters the list of African countries that produce solar energy. The Biópio photovoltaic plant, the first one inaugurated by João Lourenço during a few-hour visit to the province of Benguela and located 54 kilometers from the municipal seat of Catumbela, is the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. Built on an area of 360 hectares, the infrastructure has the capacity to produce 188 megawatts of energy and has a total of 509 thousand solar panels.
The photovoltaic park in the municipality of Baia Farta, located 30 kilometers from Benguela, will produce 90/95 megawatts of solar energy.
The holder of the Energy and Water portfolio made it known that from an environmental point of view, the construction of the two solar energy plants corresponds to 935 tons of carbon dioxide that are no longer emitted.
“This is because there are no thermal sources of energy supply, there are no more emissions to the atmosphere and this amount of carbon dioxide is not emitted”, he emphasized.
Regarding the national energy production matrix, the official said that the current proportion is 62 percent of production of hydro and 48 percent of thermal energy.
João Baptista Borges indicated that the objective, by 2025, is to obtain 72 percent of renewable energy in the national energy matrix, a commitment assumed by Angola, at the summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November last year.
Expectant Biópio authorities With an estimated population of around 8,000 inhabitants, Biópio has great agricultural and livestock potential. For this reason, the commune authorities highlight the inauguration of the Photovoltaic Park that will benefit the locality in terms of the supply of renewable energy.
In this regard, the communal administrator, José Nomãla, says that the project inaugurated by President João Lourenço will attract more investors in the region.
He added that this solar energy project adds to the potential that the commune has, in terms of water resources, which represents a great gain. “This will contribute to the development of the commune,” she added.
The local mayor, Evaristo Miápia, highlighted the benefits of the project for the development of the commune, stressing that it will attract investors. “Biopio has vast areas, a lot of water and now comes this source of energy supply, which will bring many benefits to the commune”, he concluded.
