Speaking at the opening session, João Baptista Borges, Minister of Energy and Water, highlighted that "important electrification projects were recently approved to be completed in the next three years, within which about a gigawatt of photovoltaic energy should be installed".
Cited in a statement sent to VerAngola, the official also said that "earlier, that is, still during this year, 370 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity should be operational. The investment in question is public, but there have also been efforts to establish projects of private investment".
In turn, the ambassador of the European Union assured that the "European Union is available to collaborate with Angola in its transition to renewable energies".
She also mentioned that "the Multiannual Indicative Program 2021 to 2027 provides for aid, programs and partnerships for the development of renewable energies together with the Government of Angola, the private sector and civil society".
The event also included the intervention of the executive director of the Lusophone Association of Renewable Energies (ALER), Isabel Cancela de Abreu, who presented the National Report on the Status of Renewable Energies in Angola – available for free consultation on the ALER and Angolan Renewable Energy Association (ASAER).
The official, quoted in the statement, said that "this report provides an overview of the most recent and future developments in the sector and will act as the reference document for all those potentially interested in investing in renewable energy in Angola".
Nuno Gomes, vice-president of ASAER, also spoke, underlining that "the creation of ASAER enabled the existence of a platform for communication, debate and consultation between the various actors in the field of renewable energies in Angola, bringing together companies, technicians and institutions , always with the aim of encouraging and enhancing the use of sustainable practices and the use of renewable energies".
He also said that, with regard to the projects, "ASAER is also concerned to discuss the future of these solutions, their optimization, the inclusion of local content and the promotion of private investment, especially national, in the contribution to the objectives assumed before the Angolans and the world: a country with more energy, with an increasingly greater component of production associated with renewables and with business opportunities and development of knowledge in this area for national companies and technicians".
The second day of the conference was marked by the intervention of Filipe Zau, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, and Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas.
Also mentioned in the communiqué, the official underlined the existence of a "need to introduce questions of logic of circular economy and green economy in the energy sector, which necessarily concerns renewable energies", adding that "coordination must be put into practice between institutions and find common action strategies in favor of the population and the environment".
Diamantino Azevedo, in turn, closed the event by saying that "the energy transition and environmental protection issues are concerns of the Angolan Executive and demand our contribution in promoting and encouraging companies in our sector to invest, in win/win partnerships, with public institutions and national companies in renewable energy projects".
The minister also named "some projects at a very advanced stage", highlighting the Caraculo photovoltaic plant and the Quilemba solar plant, which total 130 megawatts of installed capacity.
According to the statement, the event also made it possible to "sign important documents that will give impetus to the promotion of renewable energies in the country, namely the affiliation of the Ministry of Energy and Water to ALER, the Cooperation Protocol between ALER and ASAER and the Cooperation Protocol between the Angola-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ASAER".
The conference took place on the 5th and 6th of July and was organized by ALER and ASAER together with the Ministry of Energy and Water and with the support of GET.invest, which concerns "a European program that aims to mobilize investment in decentralized renewable energies, with the cooperation of the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria".
Topics such as the institutional and legal framework, the national energy profile, renewable energy projects connected to the grid, among others, were addressed at the event.
