QWAY to develop 500 MW of renewables in Angola

QWAY energy, working with Angolan company Thueia to develop 500 MW of renewable energy capacity in the country.

The projects will be split between utility-scale solar, wind and waste to energy technologies. QWAY energy’s managing director Luc Graré tells pv magazine that it expects 250-300 MW of the capacity to be solar PV, and that once the development phase is complete he expects construction to begin by the end of 2020.

Thueia is an Angola based company currently active in the waste management and fishing industries, headed by former BP Upstream Business Interface Manager Osvaldo Neto. According to QWAY, the company hopes to reduce its own production costs whilst also contributing to the electrification of Angola.

Angola is looking to renewables to achieve its target of 60% electrification by 2025, and according to QWAY its Ministry of Energy and Water has identified potential sites for 55 GW of PV in the country, as well as 3 GW of wind and 18 GW of hydro.

So far in 2018, Angola has taken several steps to take better advantage of solar technology, taking steps to join the World Bank’s Scaling Solar program aimed at unlocking private investments for PV in African nations, and working with the African Development Bank on the creation of an implementation support unit, to further stimulate investments from independent companies in Angola’s electricity sector.

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab earlier this year found several sites in Angola that it said could be used for cost-effective solar deployment, but noted that this was limited by the country’s transmission infrastructure.