The European Investment Bank will finance a 110 million escudo (one million euros) program to reduce 5.5 percentage points of electricity losses in the public distribution grid in Cape Verde in 2023, according to the government.
“Reducing losses by 5.5 percentage points significantly reduces the cost of energy in the country. At present, every 1% loss represents an unaccounted for energy of 190 billion escudos. [190 milhões de escudos, 1,7 milhão de euros] annually. Thus, a 5.5 percentage point reduction avoids an additional annual cost of 1.05 million PTE in electricity bills. [mil milhões de escudos, 9,5 milhões de euros]”, underlines the government in documents supporting the draft state budget for 2023, which is due to be put to a general vote in parliament this Friday.
About a quarter of all the electricity produced in Cape Verde annually is considered lost, namely due to theft in the network, remaining unaccounted for, according to official figures from the state group Electra.