Abundant opportunities across Angola’s energy sector

Angola

Paulo Barradas, executive director and board member of Mecwide Angola, talks to The Energy Year about how the company’s footprint in the Angolan oil and gas sector is evolving, its role in the Falcão project and how it is helping develop renewable energy in Angola. Mecwide provides metalworking EPC solutions for the energy industry.

How is Mecwide Angola’s footprint in the oil and gas sector evolving?
At the end of 2022, we were awarded a very interesting contract for Azule Energy. We will be in charge of project management and supervision services for the Agogo project. The project involves subsea development with one FPSO that aims to start production in 2025. This contract is for USD 12 million and spans three years. For this project, we have entered into a partnership with Progeco NeXT. They are a specialised workforce supply company that typically works with the oil and gas industry.
This project has an out-of-country scope and an in-country scope because it involves fabrication worldwide. Our partner takes care of the out-of-country scope fabrication, and Mecwide handles the in-country scope, including expat and national employees.
We also see many current opportunities in the market for technical assistance, and we have also been awarded maintenance contracts by an oil and gas logistics and supply company. Other smaller opportunities are in piping and welding.

What is the role of Mecwide Angola in the Falcão project?
Falcão is a very strategic project for the country. It’s connected to the strategy of building infrastructure to develop industry. This project will allow Angola, and the region of Soyo in particular, to create a hub of companies that can develop their activity. These companies are in industries that need gas and energy to work. We are very proud to contribute to that.
What we are doing there is the full EPC works for the gas treatment plant. The plant will receive LNG, treat it and then distribute it not only to the Soyo combined-cycle power plant but also to neighbouring industries that are being developed there. These include developments in fertilisers, for example.

How is Mecwide assisting Angola in its path to develop renewable energies?
We were involved in MCA’s project to develop seven solar parks in Benguela, the first solar developments in Angola. We are also looking to be involved in a larger solar project also spearheaded by MCA. This project is a USD 1-billion project and is being financed by a consortium of European banks, but it is still in an early stage of development and engineering as of September 2023.
Angola has space and sun all year, so I think solar is the renewable energy that makes most sense for the country. It should be considered before other renewables whose infrastructure is much more expensive. For example, the capex you have for wind farms or turbines offshore is massive.
I see a very large opportunity for Mecwide in this sector because we have participated in the first solar project in-country with MCA. We have the expertise, the people and in-house expertise, and the technology to do the work. We are quite confident in the future.

What are your perspectives on the attractiveness of the Angolan oil and gas sector for Mecwide?
The oil price is quite stable and at a good level. That attracts investment to oil companies. What we see today is a promising industry with projects and opportunities.
I believe that Mecwide will continue to have opportunities in Angola within the oil and gas industry. I’m referring to all types of projects, including technical assistance and EPC projects for pipelines and gas facilities. The government has also signalled a transition towards further gas developments for environmental reasons. You see many opportunities within the gas industry, so we are focusing a lot on that.

How important will your new Viana yard be in your strategy to harness new opportunities in Angola?
We made a significant investment in 2023 to create our new Viana yard. Our base in Angola will be there. It’s a fabrication yard destined to provide turnkey solutions to our clients. Our aim is not only to execute projects within the yard but also to support our projects all over Angola that need prefabrication. Such support will be important for the projects we execute in Angola outside of Luanda.
We are already being visited and audited by clients for projects. The yard is a significant investment Mecwide has made at a time when we see companies divesting. We see opportunities, and we believe in the country.
Actually, we have been quite resilient. We have been here since 2009. We have been through all the crises and never left. This is proof of our belief in the country’s opportunities and our potential to grow and make Angola significant for the group.

What are some of the most strategic projects that Mecwide is involved in globally?
Outside of Angola, Mecwide managed to secure some very interesting and strategic projects. One of these projects is in Norway. It’s a data centre project called Project Beluga for the company Green Mountain. This project includes the construction of a data centre for TikTok.
It’s a USD 75-million project to be executed in two years. Mecwide will be responsible for the procurement of the majority of the materials and equipment, and then we’ll be doing all the assembly of the data centre.
The group has also secured another project called GZO 4.0 [Green Zinc Odda 4.0] in Norway. It’s for a smelter zinc plant, which will be the most climate-effective smelting plant in the world.
This project is strategic for us not only because it’s a large project but also because it has this green footprint. Basically, we will be responsible for the procurement of all the equipment – piping, metallic structures, equipment, valves and so on – and we will also do the assembling.
We want to be part of this energy transition, and therefore, we want to support and participate in these projects.

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