At the Renewable Energy Forum Africa 2023 – held this year in Nairobi, Kenya – the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) issued its AFSIA Solar Awards 2023 and awarded Angola’s Biópio and Baia Farta solar plants the Utility-Scale Project of the Year 2023 Award.

With thirteen categories, the awards collectively recognize exceptional achievements in innovative and exemplary solar energy projects designed or deployed across Africa.

The two solar photovoltaic plants were inaugurated on July 20^th, 2022 by the President of the Republic of Angola in the Province of Benguela. Over the course of 19 months, a staggering total of 770,400 solar panels were installed in Biópio and Baia Farta, along with all the necessary civil and electrical infrastructure.

Dar supported the Republic of Angola’s Ministry of Energy in the development of these transformational solar plants, which are the first products of one of the largest integrated public renewable energy intervention programs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

That larger initiative aims to introduce seven photovoltaic power plants with one million solar panels to Angola's national grid. Collectively, these plants will deliver 370 MW of clean, sustainable, and reliable energy to over one million people in Angola. With the capacity to generate up to 585 GWh of renewable electric energy annually, the plants are projected to save over 214 million liters of diesel and eliminate up to 723,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year, contributing to Angola’s national commitment to provide reliable and sustainable energy for its communities.