Downtown Africa
Caluquembe — The project of electrical interconnection between the central and southern regions of the country, passing through the municipality of Caluquembe, through Huambo, will stimulate the establishment of manufacturing industry in the region, which will absorb agricultural production, considered Saturday the administrator of the district, José Nataniel.
The electrical interconnection project between the centre and south of the country, with energy from Laúca, on the border between Malanje and Kwanza Norte, will increase the installed capacity in the province of Huila, from 68 to another 200 Megawatts, through the construction of a 400 KV electricity transmission line, from the substation of Belém (Huambo).
The initiative, which is estimated to cost more than US$543 million and financed by the Angolan Development Bank (BDA), will initially link Huambo and Huila, passing through the municipalities of Caála, Caconda, Caluquembe, Cacula and Lubango.
The administrator, who was speaking during the presentation of the project, said that energy is an indispensable asset for the development of a society, and in agriculture they need to implement the manufacturing industry so that the products from the countryside do not spoil in the places.
He added that the municipality has social infrastructure of education and health, among others that to function at full need energy, which is not happening at the moment.
“Today we have a situation of spending on machinery and lubricants to be able to guarantee the minimum energy at the level of the municipality. The project pleases us. Since independence we’ve never had energy from a dam”, he considered.
In his part, the project coordinator, Francisca Pereira, stressed that work will begin in the second half of 2021.
“The project has a duration of 18 months and we expect to have the complete assets by 2023, with the light of Laúca finally in the southern region of the country”, she said.
He said that later, with the expansion of the system to 400 KV, the project will allow an interconnection with Namibia.
