Studies for construction of the first wind farm in Angola, which will be built in the city of Tômbwa as part of a public-private partnership (PPP), are at an advanced stage, said the provincial director for Energy and Water of Namibe province, Arlindo Tavares.
Tavares also told Angolan weekly newspaper Expansão that the wind power project was expected to cost 17 billion kwanzas (US$176.6 million), and that at the moment there were five towers in the province, one in the city of Namibe, two in Tômbwa and the remaining two on Tigres Island to collect data on temperature, wind speed and relative humidity.
With an installed capacity of 100 megawatts, the start of construction of the project is scheduled for the end of this year. After it is built it may be used as a model for similar projects in the provinces of Cunene and Huíla.
Preliminary data shows that the city of Tômbwa has winds of 5.2 metres per second, which is why the area was chosen for the first phase of a large scale wind energy project.