Angola will have an average electricity coverage rate of 50% by 2022, with each province exceeding 25%, Energy and Water Minister João Baptista Borges said on Friday in Luanda.

Speaking at the opening session of the 9th Consultative Council of the Ministry of Energy and Water, the minister also said that the growth of the sector is allowing the expansion of energy in urban areas, municipal headquarters and rural areas, with the aim of rising from 73 to 116 municipalities covered by 2022, more than 60%, which will allow for national coverage of 50%.

“Although just under 40% of the population has access to electricity, in recent months there have been changes in the production, transmission and distribution system with major economic and social impact as a result of the North/Centre interconnection,” he said, quoted by the Angop news agency.

The minister stressed the increase in the country’s power generation capacity, namely the Laúca hydroelectric power plant, where the commissioning of the fifth of six turbines allowed it to reach production of 1,670 megawatts of a predicted 2,070 by the end of the year.

José Salgueiro, director of the study, planning and statistics office of the Ministry of Energy and Water, said at the time that a third of the project of one million household electricity connections planned for the 2018/2022 five-year period had already been implemented.

In addition to these, where more than 300,000 connections have been made, Salgueiro announced that another package of 400,000 had been negotiated with the African Development Bank and the World Bank. (Macauhub)