President of Angola Joao Lorenzo arrives at the SOYO I Combined Cycle Power Station in Zaire on July 19. [Photo/cmec.com]

President of Angola Joao Lorenzo inspected the SOYO I Combined Cycle Power Station in Zaire on July 19.

The SOYO I Combined Cycle Power Station Construction and Installation Project is the first large-scale thermal power generation project in Angola undertaken by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), a subsidiary of Sinomach. It is also by far the largest gas turbine power station project in Africa. 

Since becoming President of Angola in 2017, Lorenzo has provided high-level attention and support to this project. His visit to the power station has marked a significant milestone for the project.

Lorenzo first visited the office building at the construction site to learn about the current state of operation and future plans related to the project. Then he visited the central control room and expressed approval to the operating staff and engineers at work.

During the visit, Lorenzo spoke highly of the construction management and overall quality of the project. He said that it was “satisfactory” and that he sincerely “l(fā)iked it”.

The SOYO power station started construction in December 2015 and the contract period lasted until June 30, 2019. With the sincere cooperation of all the staff, the project has completed the testing and commissioning work and delivered to power generation ahead of schedule on May 19, 2019, which has become another model of overseas project construction of CMEC.