The African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged US$530m to finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV power transmission line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola. The financing package, approved in December 2019, includes US$480m in financing from the AfDB, along with US$50m from the Africa Growing Together Fund, a US$2bn facility sponsored by the People’s Bank of China and administered by the AfDB.
The north of Angola has a surplus of more than 1,000 MW of mostly renewable power, whereas the south relies on expensive diesel generators, supported by government subsidies. The project, which is expected to be commissioned in 2023, will increase transmission capacity by 2,250 MW and will eliminate the diesel-fired generators in southern provinces. The new transmission line will become the backbone for the distribution of power to the southern provinces of Angola and Namibia.