[Angola] More Than 80 Municipal Headquarters to secure Electricity Until 2017

The National Programme of Electrification designed by the Electricity Sector Regulating Institute (IRSE) will secure electricity to 86 of the country’s municipal headquarters until 2017.

This was said Thursday in Lisbon (Portugal) by the CEO of the Electricity Sector Regulating Institute (IRSE), Luís Mourão da Silva, who added that the programme will also cover 124 communnes.

The official was addressing the Conference on Energy for Development of the Portuguese Speaking Community (CPLP), within the panel on National Rural Electrification Policies.

Luís Mourão da Silva on the occasion stated that the National Rural Electrification Programme which is part of the social development programmes, will also boost the national agricultural production.

Under the National Development Plan for 2013/2017, the country's energetic sector has set aside Usd 3.3 billion for renewable energies and rural electrification projects.

Mourão mentioned that the government in 2010 and 2012 drafted policies for rural electrification and renewable energies and is currently running huge infrastructure projects for the development of hydric resources, natural gas, wind and solar energies.

He defended the full development of the hydric potential of the Kwanza River (Laúca and Caculo-Cabaça), installation of combined cycles gas turbines, in partnership with Sonangol/Angola LNG, as well as the national integration of the systems of transport and international connection with the neighbouring Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As for the context of the electricity market in Angola, he said the emergence of new operators will have a particular relevance for rural electrification, mentioning the General Electricity Law as a mechanism for the creation of conditions for rural electrification, through the Fund National for Rural Electrification.

He also considered the access to electricity as key to economic growth and development of the country, with benefits to the living of the population and development of trade.

According to him, Angola has sought to duplicate the electrification rate by 2025, adding that the government has established a set of strategic objectives for the electricity sector, with stress to a 60 percent electrification rate by 2025, against the current 33 percent.

The official mentioned as another Angola's strategic objectives to improve efficiency and reduce subsidies, stating that the country might increase the current production capacity of 2000 to 9500 megawatts by 2025, and build more than 2,500 kilometers of lines and substations in the country's transportation network and establish international connections.

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