With hydropower being the primary source of power generation in Angola and likely to be exhausted, its share in the energy mix is expected to come down from 71.3% in 2021 to 65.5% in 2035 in the total annual generation. However, the government has set a target of 9.9 GW of total installed capacity with 60% electrification rate by 2025. Hydropower capacity is expected to account for 6.6GW of the total target. It was estimated that the country has a potential of 18 GW in hydropower throughout. Hence, Angola needs a well-planned infrastructure plan to meet the demand, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Angola Power Market Size, Trends, Regulations, Competitive Landscape and Forecast, 2022-2035’, reveals that Angola’s energy demand is expected to witness a growing trend based on the electrification rate in provincial capitals, municipal townships and communal townships. The country plans to give priority to grid extension so that maximum number of municipal and commune townships are electrified. To ensure a safe power supply, the country is increasing power capacity in all sub-systems and through a strong reliance on hydro and partially on gas and oil.

Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, Power Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Increasing electric power availability to diversify the economy and meet the increasing energy demand of a growing population is among the Angolan government’s highest stated priorities. To achieve this, the government has instituted an ambitious infrastructure plan. Current electrification rates are estimated at 43% in most cities and less than 10% in rural areas.”

Angola introduced National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) as early as 2011. The plan estimated the country’s low-cost hydroelectric energy potential to be around 18,000 GWh and estimated to meet its current and future needs, also export of the surplus power to the region.

Saibasan concludes: “The program also acknowledged the potential of reducing deforestation, clean energy solution and small and micro scale power plants. By 2020, nearly two-thirds of Angola’s electricity was generated through hydropower. Hydropower will contribute 6.6 GW out of 9.9 GW of planned capacity, as part of ‘Long Term Strategy Angola 2025’.”