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10:06, 05-Aug-2017
Chinese firm to build ‘largest’ hydropower plant in Angola
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The construction of Angola’s “largest” hydropower plant was officially inaugurated by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday, contracted to a Chinese firm.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Angolan Minister of Energy and Water Resources Joao Baptista Borges said the project of Caculo Cabaca Hydropower Project is the largest of its kind being built in the country and crucial to the country’s economy.
"It will solve the power shortage in Angola and play an active role in increasing employment of the country," he said, adding that the Angolan government felt gratitude to the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises for their support to the development of Angola.
Located at the North Kwanza Province, the hydropower project will be constructed by China Gezhouba Group Co., Ltd. (CGGC), which bears the same name to the Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project in south China’s Hubei Province, the largest when it was built in the 1970s.
The Angolan project has a total contractual value of 4.5 billion US dollars and a planned installed capacity of 2,172 megawatts. The construction is expected to complete within 80 months, and an estimate of up to 10,000 jobs can be created locally.
The power plant is also the largest hydropower station to be constructed by a Chinese company in Africa, according to Ren Jianguo, deputy general manager of the CGGC, who added that upon completion, the project is expected to meet more than 50 percent of the country's electricity needs.
The CGGC will also be responsible for the four-year operation and maintenance of the power plant.
China is Angola's largest trading partner while Angola is China's second largest trading partner in Africa as well as the largest source country of imports in Africa.
To date, Angola is one of the countries in Africa to have the most extensive cooperation with China in investment and financing as well as infrastructure construction. China has cumulatively invested close to 50 billion US dollars in the country, covering various fields in the infrastructure sector.