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Angola Electric Power
Angola is especially well endowed with potential
sources for
the production of electricity, both hydroelectric
(estimated in
1986 at 7,710 megawatts potential capacity) and thermal
(using
locally produced oil). By 1986, however, a total of only
367
megawatts of generating capacity existed at the country's
main
power stations. Power stations on four rivers
traditionally
supplied most of the electricity consumed in the main
urban areas:
the Cambambe station on the Cuanza River and the Mabubas
station on
the Dande River provided electricity to the capital and
the north,
the Biópio and Lomaum stations on the Catumbela River
supplied
cities in the central provinces, and the Matala station on
the
Cunene River was the main source of power in the south.
The Ruacaná
station, also on the Cunene River near the border with
Namibia, was
under South African control during much of the 1980s. In
addition,
thermal stations in Luanda, Namibe, Cabinda, Huambo,
Biópio, Uíge,
and Lubango supplied power. However, these regional power
systems
were not connected. Furthermore, there were separate local
grids in
Cabinda and in the diamond-mining area of Lunda Norte
Province.
Repairs were needed on the electrical system because of
deteriorating equipment and the sabotage of stations and
distribution lines. The central system has been hit
repeatedly by
UNITA, which in the 1980s put the Lomaum station and a
substation
at Alto Catumbela out of commission. Many of the power
lines in the
central area and in the northwest have also been cut by
UNITA.
Therefore, many businesses have installed their own
generators and
produce approximately 20 percent of the total electricity
generated
in Angola. In the late 1980s, the government was going
ahead with
plans to build a 520-megawatt hydroelectric station on the
Cuanza
River at Capanda to augment the northern system. The
government had
also reached an agreement with Brazil and the Soviet Union
for
financial and technical assistance in building the station
for an
estimated US$900 million.
Data as of February 1989
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