Luanda - President João Lourenço reiterated Saturday the commitment of the Angolan Government to do everything possible to complete, within the expected time, the construction works for the Caculo-Cabaça Hydroelectric Facility, in the province of Cuanza Norte.
The president said so to the press after the ceremony aimed at starting the process of diverting the waters of the Kwanza River, for the construction of the dam.
The Head of State said he left with the feeling that a lot of work had already been done, but that the diversion of the river, just witnessed, is an important milestone for the continuation of the works on this important project.
With that, he said, he hoped that within approximately three years, more specifically in October 2026, the inauguration of what will be the largest hydroelectric dam in Angola and the third largest on the African continent, after Aswan, in Egypt, and Cahora Bassa, in Mozambique.
“We are going to work not to stop, doing everything so that by the estimated date (October 2026) we can place this great infrastructure at the service of the country, the economy and the populations”, he said.
President João Lourenço added that the Executive will continue to invest in other areas, such as the transport of energy produced in the main sources, which at the moment are found, fundamentally, in the lower Kwanza region, so that it can serve the entire population.
The Statesman added that, along with the transport lines, substations will be built and, finally, home connections will be made in different locations and industries.
The President reaffirmed that the project has confirmed financing from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, for the civil part of the work, and from a German bank, to finance the five turbines that will be installed.
According to the President of the Republic, if all goes well and there are no delays in disbursements, the deadlines set will be met.
However, he stressed that the ceremony that took place this Saturday constitutes an important step for the continuity of the work, because it is from now on that the civil contractor will start to erect the dam.
The Caculo-Cabaça Hydroelectric Power Plant is located along the middle Kwanza corridor, where the Cambambe, Capanda and Laúca hydroelectric power plants are also in place.
The hydroelectric basin area in the dam section is 112, 663 square meters and the total expected average annual flow is 591 cubic meters per second.
The reservoir, with full storage at quota (630), has a storage capacity of 436 cubic meters per hour.
The Caculo Cabaça Hydroelectric Facility will produce, on average, 8, 566 gigawatts of energy per year, allowing an annual saving of 2.850 million tons of coal and, consequently, a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the order of nine million tons.
