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Capanda

Hydro power plant in Cuanza Norte, Angola. Approximate location -9.7955, 15.4672.

HydroCuanza NorteAngola

Capanda is a 520 MW hydro power station in Cuanza Norte, Angola. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 520,594 homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 14 Angola power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 70.6% of Angola's electricity; the national grid averages 185 gCO₂/kWh (73.7% low-carbon) (2024).

520MW installed capacity
520,594homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023004.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Angola

Capanda: 520 MW520CapandaCambambe: 180 MW180CambambeMatala: 40 MW40MatalaRio Luachimo: 16 MW16Rio Luachi…Biopio (hydro): 15 MW15Biopio (hy…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 9.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

21.4°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,243cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,147 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 22 °CJF: 22 °CFM: 22 °CMA: 22 °CAM: 21 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 19 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 22 °CON: 22 °CND: 22 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #1 largest hydro power plant of 5 in Angola by capacity.

Angola has 5 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 771 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -9.7955, 15.4672 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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