A New Way: Private Entities May Now Access Electricity Transmission Activities in Angola
This newsletter was elaborated in partnership with FBL Advogados (a partner firm in Angola).
In light of the reforms in the electricity sector aimed at stimulating the national economy and promoting international electricity trade with other countries in Southern and Central Africa—through the interconnection of national energy systems, serving as a catalyst for the African economic integration process—there is no doubt that the establishment of a legal and regulatory framework conducive to competitiveness and fair competition among various economic agents in the fields of generation, transmission, distribution, and commercialization of energy is essential. Accordingly, Law No. 6/25 of July 23 mandated the full republication of Law No. 14-A/96 of May 31 – the General Electricity Law (LGE), incorporating the amendments, additions, and repeals introduced by it.
Among the most significant reforms introduced by the General Electricity Law is the provision (Article 09, Paragraph 5 of the LGE) allowing private entities to engage in electricity transmission activities within the scope of the National Transmission Network and its interconnections. These activities may be carried out under public service concession agreements, subject to terms and conditions to be defined by specific regulations issued by the President of the Republic. This effectively ends the regime of exclusive State or public enterprise control over electricity transmission activities, thereby enabling the entry of private investors into the electricity transmission and distribution sector.
These long-anticipated reforms now pave the way for a new national policy on electricity supply that is investment-oriented, grounded in the principles of free market competition across the electricity generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization sectors, as stipulated in Article 3, Paragraph 5 of the LGE. This marks the end of the single-buyer model. The overall management of the Public Electricity System will be entrusted to a public legal entity, which will coordinate and monitor the activities carried out by market agents and other stakeholders.
Nevertheless, the implementation of these legal reforms remains contingent upon the issuance of regulatory instruments, which are necessary to facilitate the entry of new operators and agents into the electricity transmission and distribution market. These regulations will also be instrumental in achieving broader national objectives, such as the reinforcement and the expansion of the electricity grid to more remote areas of the country, thereby advancing the goal of regional interconnection within the SADC community framework.
