Angola's National Strategy for New Renewable Energies: Solar, Wind, Biomass, and Mini-Hydro

The National Strategy for New Renewable Energies, approved by the Government of Angola, establishes an aggregate target of 800 MW of new renewable capacity. Combined with the country’s large and medium hydropower fleet of 6.5 GW, this target would push Angola’s renewable installed capacity to 74% of the total 9.9 GW system, one of the highest percentages in the world. The strategy covers four technology categories: biomass at 500 MW, solar photovoltaics at 100 MW, wind energy at 100 MW, and mini-hydro at 100 MW.

Strategic Rationale

Angola’s renewable energy strategy serves multiple objectives simultaneously. At the system level, it diversifies the generation mix beyond large hydro and gas, reducing concentration risk. At the territorial level, distributed renewable projects bring generation capacity closer to dispersed demand centers, reducing transmission losses and costs. At the environmental level, it reinforces Angola’s position as one of the lowest-emitting power sectors in the world, with a projected CO2 emission factor of just 98 grams per kWh.

The Angola Energia 2025 vision document integrates the renewables strategy into the broader supply-demand framework, identifying indicative project locations while leaving final implementation to private initiative in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and Water. The projects selected are guidelines rather than mandates, with the private sector expected to identify alternatives that meet or exceed government targets.

Biomass: 500 MW

Biomass represents the largest single renewable target, reflecting Angola’s substantial forest resources and agro-industrial potential. The Strategy and Atlas of New Renewable Energy identified 43 potential biomass power generation projects totaling 4 GW of theoretical capacity, of which 3.4 GW derive from forest biomass.

The Central region (Huambo, Bie, and Benguela provinces) and the Eastern region (Moxico, Lunda Sul, and Lunda Norte) offer the most favorable resources, with nearly all provinces except Namibe showing sufficient biomass potential.

The 500 MW target breaks down as follows:

The Hydrothermal Project is the anchor, combining 300 MW of biomass generation with 200-450 MW of medium and large hydropower on the Cutato, Cune, and Cunhinga rivers in Bie province. The biomass component utilizes existing forest polygons in the central region, creating a renewable energy complex that doubles as a driver of sustainable forestry management.

The Biocom project in Malanje province, producing sugar from irrigated cane, plans to generate approximately 100 MW from bagasse by the target horizon. This co-generation model is proven across Brazil and southern Africa and represents one of the most commercially mature renewable technologies available.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) incineration targets the highest-density urban areas where waste volumes justify the capital investment. Luanda and the Alto Catumbela-Benguela-Lobito axis are the priority locations.

Solar Energy: 100 MW

Angola possesses an excellent solar resource, with annual average global horizontal irradiation ranging from 1,350 to 2,070 kWh/m2/year. Solar is the country’s largest and most uniformly distributed renewable resource, with the southern and central regions offering the highest irradiance.

Photovoltaic technology is identified as the most appropriate for Angola due to its rapid installation timeline (under 1 year) and low maintenance requirements. The 100 MW target is distributed across three application tiers:

Grid-Connected Projects (78 MW): Six to eight medium and large-scale PV projects connected to the interconnected grid, located primarily in the Central and Southern Systems where irradiance is highest and levelized costs are lowest. Sites were selected for minimum levelized cost of energy and proximity to existing or planned substations.

Rural Electrification Solar (22 MW):

• 10 MW in 500 solar villages providing community-level services to off-grid commune capitals
• 10 MW complementing diesel generation in the 21 municipality capitals electrified by isolated systems
• 2 MW for the pilot 100% solar municipality of Rivungo in Cuando Cubango

The study found that medium and large-scale solar projects in the Eastern System and isolated systems already achieve levelized costs below $0.20/kWh, making them economically competitive with diesel generation. In the Central and Southern Systems, costs below $0.15/kWh are achievable, and if projects are initially remunerated at the avoided cost of diesel, the LCOE drops below $0.10/kWh after the third year.

Battery storage combined with PV can fully replace thermal generation but remains economically justified only for small-scale decentralized applications where diesel transport costs are exceptionally high. The Rivungo pilot project tests this model at municipal scale.

Wind Energy: 100 MW

The wind atlas of Angola identified potential for electricity generation along the Atlantic scarp, a north-south axis associated with higher altitudes, and in the southwestern region where wind speeds at 80 meters above ground exceed 6 meters per second.

Field surveys and the wind atlas identified 12 new locations with favorable conditions for up to 3.9 GW of wind capacity. Several sites are close to the existing grid and substations with sufficient capacity to absorb wind energy without technical restrictions or significant additional investment.

The 100 MW target is allocated across several intermediate-sized wind farms:

Levelized costs for wind generation range from $0.10 to $0.27/kWh, depending significantly on confirmed wind resource quality and the infrastructure investment needed to connect projects to the grid. Ongoing measurement campaigns by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) are refining resource assessments at priority sites.

The strategy favors several medium-sized wind farms rather than a single large installation, aligning capacity additions with the transport capability of existing or planned transmission infrastructure.

Mini-Hydro: 100 MW

Mini-hydro plants (up to 10 MW each) represent the most economically competitive renewable technology studied, though costs vary significantly between sites due to local flow and head characteristics. A database of approximately 100 favorable locations for small hydroelectric plants is under development, with some sites capable of exceeding 10 MW.

The 100 MW target breaks down as:

Isolated Systems (30 MW): Seven mini-hydro projects serve nine municipality capitals through off-grid systems, providing reliable baseload power without diesel dependence.

Grid-Connected (70 MW): Projects in zones close to the interconnected network, some already underway, feed power into the national grid.

Additionally, approximately 270 MW of new medium-sized hydro (above 10 MW) is planned outside the renewables strategy but complementary to it. These include the Cune and Cunhinga run-of-river projects within the Hydrothermal Project, the Luapasso Hydroelectric System in the Lunda provinces (3 projects, 80 MW total), and a medium-sized plant on the Cuango River for interim off-grid electrification of the populous eastern region.

Global Ranking and Emissions Impact

When combined with the 6.5 GW of large and medium hydropower, the 800 MW of new renewables gives Angola a total renewable installed capacity of approximately 7.3 GW out of 9.9 GW, or 74%. This places Angola among the top 10 countries worldwide in renewable power penetration among SADC, OPEC, and OECD nations, alongside Lesotho (100%), Malawi (99%), Zambia (99%), DRC (98%), Iceland (95%), Norway (91%), and Mozambique (90%).

The power sector CO2 emission factor would reach just 98 g CO2/kWh, comparable to Switzerland (27 g) and New Zealand (177 g) and far below fossil-fuel-dependent systems. Total sector emissions would be only 4.8 Mt CO2 equivalent, a remarkable figure for a system serving over 18 million people.

Implementation and Private Sector Role

The power sector investment framework assigns renewable energy projects to the private sector sphere, with government providing the policy framework, target setting, and grid access guarantees. The independent power producer (IPP) model enables private developers to build, own, and operate renewable generation assets, selling power to the single buyer (the national utility) under long-term power purchase agreements.

The PRODEL program coordinates between renewable project developers, the RNT grid operator, and the ENDE distribution utility to ensure grid-connected projects align with transmission capacity and demand growth.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) tracks Angola’s renewable energy development within the broader African context, providing comparative data on installed capacity, investment flows, and policy frameworks.

Challenges and Opportunities

Several factors have evolved since the Angola Energia 2025 document was prepared. Solar PV costs have declined dramatically worldwide, improving the economics of both grid-connected and off-grid solar well beyond the study’s original projections. Wind turbine technology has similarly advanced, with modern turbines capable of economic generation at lower wind speeds than assumed in the original atlas.

Battery storage costs have also fallen substantially, potentially making the Rivungo-style 100% solar municipality concept viable at larger scales. This could reshape the isolated systems strategy, replacing diesel-solar hybrids with pure solar-battery solutions in many of the 21 diesel-dependent municipality capitals.

The biomass target of 500 MW remains ambitious and depends on the realization of the Hydrothermal Project and the Biocom sugar complex, both large-scale industrial investments that face their own financing and implementation challenges.

The PDN 2023-2027 and the Estrategia Angola 2050 both emphasize sustainability and economic diversification, creating a supportive policy environment for accelerated renewable energy deployment.

National Strategy for New Renewable Energies

The government approved the National Strategy for New Renewable Energies with a global target of 800 MW of new renewable capacity by 2025, encompassing four primary technology streams: biomass, solar photovoltaic, wind power, and mini-hydropower. These 800 MW complement the large hydropower fleet, bringing Angola’s total installed renewable capacity beyond 70% of the planned 9.9 GW system, one of the highest renewable shares of any country globally.

Solar Village Program

A flagship initiative of the renewable strategy is the target of establishing 500 solar villages by 2025 in off-grid commune seats and larger settlements. These solar villages provide modern energy services to community infrastructure including schools, health centers, administrative buildings, and public lighting on main streets. The program targets commune townships and settlements with more than 3,000 inhabitants that are too distant for economical grid connection.

The Angola Energia 2025 geospatial analysis identified approximately 13,000 consumption locations at distances too high to justify grid extension, with average loads of about 10 kW per site. Of the 31 municipality seats designated for isolated systems, 7 are served by competitive mini-hydropower and 1 was selected for a 100% solar pilot at Rivungo in Cuando Cubango Province, chosen for its high solar resource and the extreme cost of diesel transportation to this remote location.

Integration with Large Hydro and Gas

The renewable strategy is designed to complement rather than compete with the large hydropower and natural gas generation assets that form the backbone of the power system. The 800 MW of new renewables represents approximately 8% of the 9.9 GW total installed capacity target, providing distributed generation that reduces transmission losses and supports local load centers. Mini-hydropower facilities are particularly valuable for off-grid municipal systems where they can provide reliable baseload power without fuel costs, reducing the government’s subsidy burden for diesel-based isolated generation.

The PDN 2023-2027 further supports renewable energy deployment through its alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, with 75% of the plan’s action priorities directly impacting the 17 SDGs. The renewable energy strategy contributes specifically to SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) while enabling progress on SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) by providing electrification to underserved regions.

Alignment with International Partnerships

Angola’s renewable energy ambitions attract interest from UAE investors under the CEPA, which covers renewable energy as one of 10 cooperation areas.