04/24/2013
Voith to Supply Generators and Turbines for New Hydropower Plant in Angola
- Installed hydropower capacity in Angola to be doubled
- Hydropower contributing to economic and social development
- Potential for hydropower development in Africa of more than 400 GW
With the project, Angola will double its installed capacity in hydropower. The capacity of the four generator-turbine-units provided for Cambambe II adds up to a total of over 700 MW. The new hydropower plant is built next to the existing facility of Cambambe I allowing the new plant to use the infrastructure and dam already available on the spot.
„The order in Africa is an important success for Voith“, says Dr. Roland Münch, President & CEO of the company’s hydropower branch Voith Hydro. „With our supply, we are contributing sustainably to the economic development of Angola.” Hydropower as a secure and cost-effective way of energy generation is offering a climate-friendly and resource-saving option particularly to emerging countries for the further extension and stabilization of power supply.
In Africa, there is considerable potential for further hydropower development: The technically feasible hydropower potential on the continent amounts to an estimated 400 GW while the installed capacity adds up to no more than about 25 GW. Thus, the highest percentage of untapped hydropower potential in the world is in Africa.
In Angola the hydropower potential is estimated to around 18 GW, with only four percent of that having been developed so far. The country intends to significantly invest in its energy sector in the coming years. As part of this, a considerable share of the enhanced electricity generation is supposed to originate from hydropower.
Many other countries in Africa also focus on hydropower when approaching the necessary expansion of the local energy supply. These countries are aiming to provide a reliable and stable electricity supply to the dynamically growing population as well as the increasingly strong developing economy. Today, only one out of four Africans has access to electricity, and the supply is often patchy and disrupted by major black-outs. Hydropower is very suitable for a stable and reliable energy supply. In addition, it contributes to the local creation of value, supports the regional development and is helping countries in Africa in their efforts to become more independent from energy and fuel imports.
With the new Cambambe II project, Voith Hydro also continues its long-term activities as hydropower plant supplier in Angola and other African countries. In the Cambambe I hydropower plant Voith, just recently, has finished extensive modernization work which has increased output by around 40 percent. In Ethiopia, the company has equipped Gilgel Gibe II which has doubled the country’s installed hydropower capacity as well and raised the share of the rural population supplied with electricity from 15 to 50 percent. For the pumped storage facility Ingula in South Africa Voith at present is providing the complete electromechanical equipment.
The Importance of Hydro Power
Hydro power is the largest, oldest and also most reliable form of renewable energy generation. Worldwide it makes an indispensable contribution to stable power supplies and hence to economic and social development - in industrial countries and also in rapidly growing regions. At the same time, hydro power significantly contributes to climate-protecting energy generation. Voith has been a leading supplier of this technology since the early beginning of hydro power utilization, and continuously develops and improves this technology.
About the Company
Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs almost more than 42,000 people, generates €5.7 billion in sales, operates in over 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.