By Simon Peter
COBA Consultancy are to start construction of the 2 067 MW Laúca hydropower station, on Kwanza riverbanks in Angola Kwanza. State-owned power utility Empresa Nacional de Electricidade de Angola (ENE) revealed this through their international relations director Ramos Tony Antonio during the 2014 Power & Electricity World Africa conference in Johannesburg last month.
According to Coba which is a major Portuguese company in engineering consultancy with activity in Portugal and in 35 foreign countries, the project will consist of a 132-m-high roller-compacted concrete dam with a 1 075 m crest length plus six Francis turbines, each with an output of 340 MW, as well as generators and additional equipment.
The Laúca project will occupy a section of the Kwanza River, between the existing Cambambe and Capanda hydropower stations. After the completion of the project it will supply 750 000 Angolans with electricity and will be credited as part of the government’s efforts of increasing the country’s power generation capacity.
The contract also includes consortium partner Lahmeyer, which will assist Coba in designing the project, providing technical assistance in contract negotiations and approving equipment design, as well as with inspections, shop assembly and final acceptanceSources
