Cuando-Cubango: Energy 2040 – A vision for the electricifcation of the province in harmony with the cubango-okavango river basin ecosystem

CONTEXT

Each year, at the onset of southern Africa’s dry season, rains falling in the Angolan highlands feed the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB), one of the world’s last unaltered river systems. The basin rises in the headwaters of the Cubango and Cuito rivers in the highland plateau of Angola, flowing south through Namibia and entering Botswana as the Okavango River.

The waters never reach the sea but instead, form a wetland of international importance, the Okavango Delta. The annual floodwaters of the Cubango and Cuito rivers, and their associated tributaries, are the basin’s source of life.

The near pristine river system is home to a biological diversity of species and ecosystems and covers approximately 323,000 square kilometres, about half of which is in Angola. The river basin also directly sustains 1 million people whose lives depend on these waters for drinking, fishing, forestry, agriculture, the harvesting of natural resources and tourism, driven by a variety of iconic species, such as Africa’s largest population of savanna elephants. Thus, balancing sustainable development and conservation of these critical natural resources is vital.

OBJECTIVES

There are three main objectives to the study:

• Feasibility Assessment: Assess the feasibility (e.g., technical, economic, and political) and gauge interest from key stakeholders (investors, project developers, and communities) and decision-makers in Angola’s national and provincial governments in achieving Cuando-Cubango Province’s energy goals with lower-impact land-based renewable energy sources.
• Cuando-Cubango: Energy 2040 Plan: Development, with the constructive engagement of Angola’s national and provincial governments, of the Vision Cuando-Cubango: Energy 2040, targeting the electrification plan of the Province and the recommendations on the best alternative renewable energy sources and siting to achieve lower-impact renewable energy security in Cuando-Cubango Province while ensuring the sustained provision of ecosystem goods and services by the Okavango River Basin.
• Provide Guidance: Provide guidance on the sources of investments for lower-impact renewable energy development.

DESCRIPTION

The Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB) is one of the greatest intact ecosystems remaining on our planet.  The headwaters start on the highland plateau of Angola and descend through sub-humid and semiarid rangelands before concentrating the flow along the border of Angola and Namibia and spilling into the Okavango Delta, one of the most extensive inland wetlands in the world. It is a globally significant ecosystem that supports Africa’s largest elephant population and the livelihoods of 600,000 people. Because of the Okavango and Cubango rivers that flow to it, largely unimpeded, the basin is home to abundant wildlife.

Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a charitable global environmental conservation organization that has over one million members and is the largest environmental nonprofit by assets and revenue in the Americas. TNC Africa Program follows a holistic approach to protect vial lands and waters, transform the way natural resources are used and managed and inspire to equip others to contribute to the shared vision of a healthy and suitable future for Africa’s lands, waters, wildlife, and people. The After consultation with Angola Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA), primarily through GABHIC and other directorates responsible for energy staff, TNC has engaged the expert support of the international team of Gesto Energy Consulting and the Angolan company VIGWorld for the development of the Study Cuando-Cubango: Energy 2040 – A Vision for the Electrification of the Province in Harmony with the Cubango-Okavango River Basin Ecosystem. Gesto and VIG World have worked together in the development of the Angola: Energy 2025 study which was a cornerstone document that supported energy development in Angola, and this will be used and updated for the Cuando-Cubango Province.

SUMMARY OF SERVICES

• Geospatial Energy Planning
• Demand Forecasting
• Definition of Alternative Energy Solutions Scenarios
• Determining Ecosystem Preservation Options
• Renewable resources assessment and mapping (hydro, wind, solar)
• Field campaigns and surveys
• Sites identification
• Energy sector evolution studies
• Capacity building