The Luachimo 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 near Luachimo in northeast

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 ...

, close to the border with the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Location

The power station is located across the Luachimo River, in the commune of Luachimo, in the

Lunda Norte Province Lunda Norte () is a province of Angola. It has an area of 103,760 km² and a population of 862,566. Angola's first President, Agostinho Neto, made Lucapa the provincial capital after independence, but the capital was later moved to Dundo. ...

of Angola, adjacent to the international border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Luachimo is the location of the city of

Dundo Dundo, or Dundo-Chitato, is a former mining town, with a population of 177,604 (2014), now a city and the provincial capital of Lunda Norte Province, Lunda Norte in Angola. Established in the early part of the 20th century as a planned diamond min ...

, approximately , by road, northeast 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 of Angola. The geographical coordinates of Luachimo Hydroelectric Power Station are:07°21'47.0"S, 20°50'36.0"E (Latitude:-7.363056; Longitude:20.843333).

Overview

Construction of the original power station at this site, started in 1953. In 1957 the power station began operations with four turbines each rated at 2.1 megawatts for a total generation capacity of . The power station is owned and operated by Empresa Nacional de Diamantes de Angola.

Rehabilitation and expansion

Plans to rehabilitate and expand this power station have been in the works since 2009, wen Emanuela Vieira Lopes, the country's minister of Energy, made those plans public. In 2016 work began at the power station, to increase generation capacity from 8.4 megawatts to 34 megawatts. Each new turbine will have generation capacity of 8.5 megawatts. The power generated will supply the 186,000 people who live in Dundo City and surrounding neighborhoods. The renovations and upgrade to the power station cost US$212 million. The renovated, expanded power station with generation capacity of 34 MW, was commercially commissioned on 17 May 2024. The engineering, procurement and construction contractor was China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC).

References

External links

Power Generation in Angola
As of 3 January 2020. {{stack} 1957 establishments in Angola Dams in Angola Underground power stations Energy infrastructure completed in 1957 Hydroelectric power stations in Angola Dams completed in 1957 Lunda Norte Province Dundo

Location

Overview

Rehabilitation and expansion

See also

References

External links