MCA Infrastructures SA, a subsidiary of the Portuguese contractor, M.Couto Alves, S.A. (MCA) Group, has secured additional funding support for the purchase of various mobile construction equipment to continue work on one of its flagship Angolan energy projects
UK Export Finance (UKEF) has agreed to support MCA Infrastructures in respect of its purchase of mobile construction equipment worth £12.5mn (US$16.2mn) via supply and logistics experts, Dints International Ltd.
The equipment list includes items such as excavators, stackers, diggers and generators, as well as cars, trucks, vans and trailers.
MCA Group acts as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor on multiple projects, including a flagship rural electrification programme in Angola, where the equipment will initially be deployed before being utilised elsewhere in the region.
A loan guarantee issued by UKEF to Apple Bank means that the Portuguese contractor operating in Angola can now access finance to purchase the new equipment through Dints.
Established 18 years ago, Dints is a London-based project integrator bringing together buyers, suppliers, logistics providers and funding partners.
Among the the UK-based suppliers to the project are Energy Group, Yorpower, and transport specialist, Kings Trailers.
“It is an honour to be supporting the energy transition in Angola, which is a new territory for us,” said Stephen Peal, Yorpower’s group managing director.
The rural electrification scheme that the machinery will be deployed on is an integral part of plans to expand energy access across Angola and will ultimately supply sustainable power to more than a million people.
The financing behind the electrification drive is also being supported by lender Standard Chartered Bank and Export Credit Agency Euler Hermes.
In May 2024, MCA announced that around 44,000 solar panels had been put into operation at the Luena Solar Park in Angola to bring clean energy to more than 55,000 people.
Located in Angola’s Moxico province, it marked the fourth solar park out of seven that the Portuguese company is building.
At the time, MCA said that, in conjunction with a new interconnector between a Wartsilla thermal power plant and Luena SE, the new solar park would help to make better use of renewable production and improve the stability of the system, as well as reduce overall fuel consumption.
Working in a consortium with a US company, Sun Africa, on behalf of the Angolan government, MCA’s solar roll-out project will eventually have a total capacity of 370 MW.
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MCA gets new equipment for Angolan solar work
Angola's Luena solar park. (Image source: MCA)
