Masdar, the renewable energy company from the United Arab Emirates, will develop a project to construct a 150 MW solar park in southern Angola, specifically in the Municipality of Quipungo, in the Huíla province. The concession agreement with the strategic company from the UAE was signed today, December 2nd, during the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change – COP28, held at Expo City Dubai, between the Angolan Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, and the CEO of Masdar, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.
The project will create up to 600 direct jobs and provide clean electricity to 90,000 households in a region with significant challenges in electricity supply. The agreement signed at COP28 demonstrates the Angolan Government’s commitment to a just energy transition, economic growth, and the reduction of carbon emissions in Africa and worldwide. This project will significantly support Angola’s goal of increasing its national electrification rate to over 50% by 2027.
“This is a contract that is part of the agreement we previously signed, where we also signed another one for the development of projects, and now we are signing a concession contract for the construction of a 150 MW solar park in southern Angola, specifically in the Municipality of Quipungo,” said Minister João Baptista Borges to the press. For the Minister of Energy and Water, the project is a private investment and will have solar capacity that will allow it to serve not only the region where it is located, namely the Huíla Province, but also to distribute capacity to Namibe.
“In this southern region of the country, there is a significant shortage of energy supply, and we still use thermal energy. Therefore, it will also be a replacement of thermal energy with clean energy,” said His Excellency the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges. The Minister clarified that Masdar will supply the energy to the public grid and private consumers, and “the supply will be ensured by the public grid and governed by a power purchase agreement that will be signed soon between the National Transport Network (RNT) and the park operator. The contract now signed is for a concession of 25 to 30 years, allowing the park to operate and be maintained in a way that the investor has rights over the land where the park will be installed.
At the opening of COP28, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President of Masdar, and designated President of COP28, said that “Africa has everything it needs to become the world powerhouse of renewable energy.”
