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AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Angola aims for 70% renewables

NAMIBIA
ANGOLA wants renewable energy to account as Green Investment Group, (UK); Copenhagen
for 70% of the power mix by 2025 and is looking Infrastructure Partners (Denmark); Qualitas
to attract foreign investment from the EU, inter- Equity (Spain); Fontavis (Switzerland); Scatec
national financial institutions (IFIs) and private (Norway); Eiffel Investment Group (France);
investors to fund the country’s energy transition. Finerge (Portugal); Ventient Energy (UK); Wirt-
The country’s energy mix is currently dom- gen Invest (Germany) and RP Global (Austria).
inated by hydro (56%) and natural gas (12%), Meanwhile, the EU has put in place the Afri-
according to the African Energy Chamber, ca-EU Green Energy Initiative which aims to
Angola has considerable hydro potential, support Angola´s decarbonisation efforts as part
although only 5% of the country’s 47 large water- of the co-operation programme Global Europe
sheds are being currently utilised. 2021-2027.
Alongside hydro, the country has considera- However, Europe is not the only potential
ble wind potential. Wind speeds in the southern source of funding for Angola´s renewable energy
and central highlands of Angola are estimated to sector. US-based Power Africa in 2021 reached
be an average of 4.5 metres per second, while the an agreement with the African Development
Atlantic coast also benefits from strong winds Bank (AfDB) to boost the pace of electrification
and is projected to have the potential to generate throughout the country in order to meet rising
more than 3.9 GW of wind energy. demand.
Angola’s large hydro potential also creates In terms of solar, in 2021 US energy devel-
scope for green hydrogen. State-owned national oper Sun Africa invested €524mn in Angola for
oil company (NOC) Sonangol has started explor- the purpose of building the largest solar photo-
ing the possibility of producing green hydrogen voltaic (PV) project in the country.
in Angola together with German partners. The project comprises seven solar parks with
The EU is very interested in diversifying its a total generation capacity of 370 MW in Lunde
energy needs away from Russian gas, and hence Sul, Moxico and Lunde Norte provinces. With
is set to intensify collaboration aimed at develop- Portugal-based MCA leading construction,
ing green hydrogen in Angola. the project will be instrumental in positioning
Europe is also a partner of choice in attract- Angola as a renewable economy.
ing investment to help fund renewable energy However, there still needs to be significant
projects in Angola. The country could target investments in the transmission networks to
such development finance institutions (DFIs) support the transition to renewables. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 16 21•April•2022