Features and construction challenges of the Caculo Cabaça hydro project, Angola

Angola is currently developing several major hydropower projects under the national Energy Development Programme to satisfy increasing demand for electricity in the country, and to foster local, social and economic development. The detailed design phase presented in this paper was developed for the construction and equipment supply of the Caculo Cabaça hydro plant, under an EPC contract. The paper describes the main aspects of the layout and highlights some major conceptual options adopted, in particular those concerning the powerplant, the challenges and constraints faced during the construction works and the solutions that have been used to address them.