Benguela - At least half a million consumers will benefit from the electricity produced by the Baía Farta Solar Power Plant, in coastal Benguela province, inaugurated Wednesday (20) by the President of the Republic João Lourenço.
The 96-MW plant will be interconnected to the national electricity grid and contribute to diversifying the country's energy matrix.
Built on the outskirts of the municipal village of Baía Farta, in an area of 186 hectares and with 261,360 solar modules, the infrastructure is the second power station of its kind in the country to produce electricity from renewable sources on a large scale, after the one in Biopio.
The Baía Farta Power Station is part of a project that expects to produce 370 megawatts (MW) in seven plants, under the responsibility of the US company Sun Africa.
The Angolan authorities also announced plans to build similar projects in Saurimo (Lunda Sul), Lucapa (Lunda Norte) and Luena (Moxico) (eastern region), with around 74 MW of power each.
The project also covers the municipalities of Bailundo (Huambo) and Cuito (Bié) which should be included at a later stage, as they are already receiving energy from the national electricity grid.
Therefore, Angola joins African solar energy producing countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, and Morocco.
In terms of public expenditure, the production of electricity through solar plants will have the impact of saving around 1.4 million liters of fuel daily.
An estimated 60 million people use solar energy as a source of electricity in Africa, a continent where nearly 87 percent of low-income people living in rural sub-Saharan areas do not have access to electricity.
