FOREWORD
The global objectives of the long-term strategy Angola 2025, for promoting human development and the well-being of Angolan citizens, promoting a fair and sustainable development, ensuring a high rhythm of economic development and a fair and well balanced development of the national territory, can only be achieved by meansof an adequate response by the electricity sector.
The strong growth of power consumption has resulted in action focused on solving short and medium term problems. Until 2017, is currently our priority.
Nevertheless, the development of an electricity sector that supports adequately the country’s aspirations can only be achieved if, in parallel, we develop a long term vision for the sector.
The ambition to electrify adequately every Provincial and Municipal Capital, and every structural project, and of bringing basic energy services to all of the country’s population, requires an integrated development vision of the power grid, and of the roles and responsibilities of the new sector entities.
The country’s hydropower potential is vast and the timeframe for project development long. As hydro energy is the country’s main focus in terms of generation, it is essential that options for 2025 be defined now, and to begin launching the projects, taking into account competitiveness, regional development and the environment.
Natural gas opens new perspectives for the sector and the sector opens new perspectives for gas in Angola. Its integration with hydropower is assumed mainly to enable a secure and competitive system, even in drought years. The use of gas for the production of electricity also in Luanda, Benguela and the Namibe, even on a small scale, will enable infrastructure and gas logistics, also for the industrialization of the country.
Furthermore, there is a need to integrate future demand and the large hydro and gas projects with an adequate transmission network, with interconnection that will enable Angola’s participation in the regional market and with the recently approved National Strategy for New Renewable Energies, thus responding to the guidelines and goals of the Strategy for Energy Security.
The long-term vision Angola Energy 2025 will undoubtedly help us to make stronger decisions in the present but, above all, to build a better future for Angola.
João Baptista Borges
Minister of Energy and Water