The event occurred on Wednesday, April 17, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, attended by Angola’s Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, and Ambassador Júlio Maiato.
During a high-level plenary session on tripling renewable energy, official statements from the 169 Member States, including the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Iraq, and Rwanda, which presides over the organization, were given, and the executive overview of IRENA was presented.
Júlio Maiato, as Angola’s Permanent Representative to IRENA, led the last working session on Wednesday as a discussion facilitator, while João Baptista Borges expressed his satisfaction with Angola’s acceptance for the Vice-Presidency of the 14th Assembly. In his address, João Baptista Borges highlighted the exponential growth of Angola’s installed electricity production capacity, which increased from 2.4 GW in 2015 to 6.2 GW, with hydropower generation rising from 39% to about 60% and thermal generation declining from 61% to about 36% in 2023.
The minister emphasized that this development was made possible through investments, highlighting the completion of the Laúca Hydroelectric Project, with a capacity of 2 GW, and the ongoing construction of the Caculo-Cabaça Hydroelectric Project. He also emphasized the Energy Sector Action Plan 2023-2027, aligned with the Long-Term Agenda 2050, which aims to diversify the energy mix to include at least 72% renewable energy, including 1.2 GW of solar power by 2027, and achieve an electrification rate of 50%, with an investment of 12 billion US dollars.
Recently, two electrification projects for Eastern and Southern Angola were approved, which will provide access to public grid energy to more than six million inhabitants. The minister also had bilateral meetings with the Minister of Infrastructure and Natural Resources of São Tomé and Príncipe.
