Voith equips 2 GW Angolan hydropower plant

Technology group Voith reports that it has received an order to supply equipment for the large-scale hydropower plant Caculo Cabaça in Angola.

The order comprises all electrical and mechanical equipment, including the installation of four Francis turbines with an output of 530 MW each, an additional Francis turbine with an output of 52 MW, generators, control and auxiliary systems and a customised training concept.

The hydropower plant on the Kwanza River is about 250 km southeast of the capital Luanda, in the province of Kwanza Norte.

Caculo Cabaça is set to be connected to the grid there with a total capacity of 2 172 MW before the decade is out.

With pilot tests recently being completed, commissioning of the power plant will see about two-thirds of Angolan energy coming from hydropower.

A six-stage training concept has been developed for regional workers, which also provides for the operation of a training center in Angola.

The company will continue to support the project beyond the commissioning stage, to ensure smooth operation in the long term.

“We see ourselves as a partner for sustainable project implementation and provide support to plant operators and governments, from joint project development to the training of personnel,” says Voith Hydro president and CEO Dr Tobias Keitel.

The project is a milestone for Angola on its journey to a broader and more stable energy supply for society and industry. Currently, the existing electricity supply reaches around half the population, meaning that many people, mainly outside the large cities, still do not have access to electricity. This is despite the fact that Africa has a huge hydropower potential that has not yet been tapped.

This project will be coordinated from Heidenheim, Germany, where most of the value creation will be generated at the company’s headquarters.

For more than 90 years, Voith has been involved in the development of hydropower projects across Africa and has thus helped to support the economic growth.

In Angola, the company is already a familiar name due to its supply of equipment for the Cambambe I and Cambambe II hydropower facilities.

In this context, the training of local skilled workers has always played a vital role.

Unique Financing Concept

Voith arranged a long-term, tailored financing package with attractive terms and conditions for the Republic of Angola, implemented with the support of the German government and the specialists at Euler Hermes, through export credit guarantees, and a German banking consortium headed by Commerzbank and UniCredit.

Especially in times of constrained budgets, the programmes offered by the German Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion Scheme are particularly important for government clients in Africa.

This allows long-term and sustainable financing of the investment sums for infrastructure projects of this kind. The order volume for Voith amounts to more than $1-billion.