Mbanza Kongo – The deputy governor of Zaire for the political, social and economic sector, Afonso Nzolameso, defended, on Wednesday, in Mbanza Kongo, the expansion of the electricity network to all communal headquarters in the region.
The government official, who was speaking at a meeting with the president of the Board of Directors of the Public Electricity Production Company (PRODEL), Pedro Afonso, said that of the 25 communes attached to the province, only seven are electrified.
He added that the Provincial Government remains engaged in the electrification of the remaining 18 communal headquarters so that the populations residing in these locations can also benefit from this service.
In this regard, he spoke about the implementation of two ongoing energy projects in the municipal centers of Luvo and Nkiende, in the municipality of Mbanza Kongo.
Afonso Nzolameso requested, on the occasion, the redistribution to some communes in the province of the three generating groups that, before the arrival of energy from the interconnected national system, in 2017, supplied electricity to the city of Mbanza Kongo, to avoid its degradation.
In response, the president of the Prodel Board of Directors said that his institution's plan included the relocation of the aforementioned generating groups, to provide electricity to populations living in remote areas of the country.
Soyo Combined Cycle Plant demobilized
On that occasion, Prodel's top manager announced the demobilization, a few days ago, of the Soyo Combined Cycle thermal plant, taking into account the “energy surplus” in the national electricity distribution network.
According to the CEO, there is no need to keep the Soyo Combined Cycle functional permanently, as the interconnected national electrical system is operational.
With the temporary demobilization of this energy infrastructure, he said, his company saved around $5 million for the maintenance of the Soyo Combined Cycle plant, after reaching 45K operation hours.
“The money resulting from these savings has been used to expand the electricity network at a national level”, he expressed.
He informed that Prodel intends to reach, by 2027, a figure of around 50 percent in terms of electricity network coverage throughout the national territory.
Currently, he said, the country has an installed capacity of 6.3 gigawatts of electrical energy, of which only a third is being consumed.
The province of Zaire has an installed capacity of more than 700 Megawatts of electrical energy, interconnecting all six municipal seats, including some communes and villages.
With a geographical area of 40,130 square kilometers, the province of Zaire has an estimated population of more than 500,000 inhabitants, spread across the municipalities of Mbanza Kongo, Soyo, Cuimba, Nzeto, Tomboco and Nóqui.
DA/JL/CF/DOJ
