The Cambambe Hydroelectric Power Station is a

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plant across the Kwanza River at the border between

Cuanza Norte Province The Cuanza Norte Province (; ) is province of Angola. N'dalatando is the capital and the province has an area of 24,110 km2 and a population of 443,386. Manuel Pedro Pacavira was born here and is a former provincial governor. The 1,400 met ...

and

Bengo Province Bengo is a Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. Its capital is Caxito. It has an area of 31,371 square kilometres, and its population as of the 2014 Census was 356,641. The province was created in 1980 by dividing the original province of L ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Following rehabilitation and expansion, the generation capacity of this installation is .

Location

The power station is located across the Kwanza River, in Cambambe, Angola, about , by road, southeast of

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, the capital and largest city in the country. The geographical coordinates of the power station are:09°45'12.0"S, 14°28'51.0"E (Latitude:-9.753333; Longitude:14.480833).

Overview

The construction of Cambambe 1 Dam was started on October 7, 1959 and finished in 1963. Due to wear and tear as well as lack of maintenance, by 2002, output had fallen from 180 megawatts to approximately 80 megawatts. In April 2007, a consortium comprising

Odebrecht Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...

Voith The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith trades in the markets of energy, paper, raw materials and transport. Founded in 1867, Voith today has aroun ...

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

and Engevix, was hired by the Empresa Nacional de Electricidade, to carry out the project of rehabilitation, expansion and modernization of the dam and power station. The project includes the heightening of the structure by 30 meters, the modernization of the generating units of the Cambambe 1, replacing the four 45 MW turbines by four 65 MW turbines, and the construction of a new plant, called Cambambe 2, with four generating units of 175 MW each, for a total of 700 MW. The works in Cambambe 1 started in March, 2009 and in Cambambe 2 in 2013.

Construction

In July 2015, it was anticipated that the first 175 megawatts turbine of Cambambe II, would be installed and come online in June 2016, with completion expected in 2017. Other upgrades included the construction of three new energy transformation substations, with capacities 400KV, 220KV and 60KV, to support connection between Cambambe 1 and 2, Capanda Hydroelectric Power Station and Laúca Hydroelectric Power Station. The renovation and upgrade of Cambambe 1 and the construction of Cambambe 2, cost an estimated US$2 billion. The completed power station was commissioned on 27 July 2017, in front of 500 invited guests.

References

External links

Renovations to Cambambe Hydroelectric Power Station
As of 13 June 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cambambe Hydroelectric Power Station Dams in Angola Power stations in Angola Hydroelectric power stations in Angola Dams on the Cuanza River Dams completed in 1963 Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 1963 establishments in Angola

Location

Overview

Construction

See also

References

External links