Sumbe – The municipal administrators of Quilenda, Ebo and Amboim defended Tuesday the need to connect to the national electricity grid, via the substations of Gabela and Quibala, province of Cuanza-Sul.
Municipal managers presented this concern during the visit of the governor of the province of Kwanza-Sul, Mara Quiosa, to these municipalities, with the aim of getting in touch with the social and economic development programs underway in each of them.
In Quilenda, the local administrator, Elizabeth Gonçalves, said that high voltage towers pass through the municipality, approximately 13 kilometers from the urban area of the municipal town.
She recalled that the municipal headquarters, located 29 kilometers from the Gabela electrical substation and 38 kilometers from the Dala Cachibo electrical substation (Quibala), has received several questions from the population about the reasons that lead them to depend on generator sets until now.
Regarding the supply of electricity to the municipality's headquarters, she said that the distribution is made from three generator groups of 500 kavears, with a monthly load of 560 hours, a factor that accelerates the process of equipment wear and, consequently, failures in the distribution to citizens and public institutions.
“We have an estimated population of 11.933 inhabitants at our headquarters, but only 634 benefit from electricity, as a result of the incapacity of the generating sets”, she explained.
The Administration receives 40k liters of fuel monthly for, among others, the supply of electricity.
In the municipality of Ebo, administrator António Kituxi said there are two substations (Quibala and Gabela) as well as high voltage towers that pass through the municipal headquarters, at a time when a study has already been carried out on the installation of an electrical energy substation.
“We have an estimated population of 214.202 inhabitants, distributed among 77.683 in the municipal headquarters and 96.763 in the commune of Condé, both separated by 25 kilometers, with a source of energy supply from generator sets, which is why we asked the sector the need for municipal electrification, as part of its expansion process”, he said.
In Porto Amboim, the municipal administrator, Darcy da Costa, defended the execution of a medium voltage line, to the commune of Assango, a distance of 22 kilometers, from a low voltage network, which has been the biggest concern for the municipal administration.
“We have the Gabela electrical substation, which has a distribution capacity of 7.78 MW, which benefits 15.666 customers, with an electrification coverage rate in the municipality of 32%”, he said.
Adding that in order to increase the municipality's electrification rate, there is an urgent need to build the aforementioned medium voltage line, from the Gabela substation to Comuna do Assango.
The Assango Commune covers an area of 493,250 square kilometers.
Govenor Mara Quiosa acknowledged that the distribution of electrical energy from generator sets has caused constraints, due to maintenance work on equipment and fuel.
Therefore, she promised to work with the Ministry of Energy and Water, taking into account the proximity to the Gabela and Quibala electrical substations. LC/ALH/CF/DOJ
