THE PRESIDENT OF Technopromexport of Russia has assured the Angolan prime minister, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, that the hydro turbines for the Capanda dam, in the northern Malanje province, will be installed according to schedule.
The installation of the second turbine is due in April. The remaining two turbines, costing nearly US$115M, are to be installed within the next two years. The project to build the Capanda hydroelectric dam was formally announced in 1982. Afterwards, the development of the project was entrusted to GAMEK, comprising the Angolan state, Technopromexport and the Brazilian companies Odebrecht and Furnas. The engineering works for the project, which started in November 1987, were halted during the period from 1992–1994 because of the Angolan Civil War.
The works finally restarted in 1997, and in 2000 the first electromechanical equipment was set up.