China Machinery Engineering : Unveiling Ceremony Held for Soyo I Power Plant

On August 17, 2017, the unveiling ceremony for Soyo I Combined Cycle Power Plant was held at the construction site. About 200 people attended the ceremony, including Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente, Chinese Ambassador to Angola Cui Aimin, Governor and Deputy Governor of Zaire Province, several ministers of Angola, and Angolan Secretary of State.

On the pleasant day, the once-bustling construction site was filled with a festive atmosphere. Thousands of local residents dressed in colorful ethnic clothing sang and danced joyously in front of the power plant to greet the guests, amid the cheerful and lively melody performed by the military band. Rows of posters along the way demonstrated how the power plant has started from scratch on the land covered with grasses and bushes.

A brief celebratory meeting was held after the guests arrived. Angola's Minister of Energy and Water João Baptista Borges and Chinese Ambassador to Angola Cui Aimin delivered remarks respectively, giving congratulations on the operation of the project's first unit and expressing gratitude to the constructors. They also gave high praise to CMEC for its exceptional construction capacity.

The meeting culminated in a promotional video showing the construction process of the power plant and electronic power lines.

After the meeting, the guests went to the venue east of the 400Kv GIS switching station for the unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremony. According to the highest level of local courtesy, a bishop offered blessings to the project and people, and Angola's Vice President unveiled the monument and cut the ribbon.

At the switching station, the vice president was deeply impressed by the posters showing how the 400KV GIS switch installation has created a new world record, so he stood still while Angola's Minister of Energy and Water gave him a detailed introduction .

The most exciting moment finally came. Beside the No. 4 gas turbine power-generating unit, dozens of people in ethnic clothing encircled a rostrum singing and dancing. At the center of the rostrum was a bright red button. With all the participants looking attentively, the vice president pressed the button. Immediately, ribbons and paper flowers shot into sky from all four sides of the square amid a loud sound, and the output load of the unit climbed to and stood at 80MW in an instant. The whole audience roared with applause, congratulating each other excitedly. One month ago, the No. 4 unit was smoothly connected to the grid for power generation. From the moment that the vice president pressed the button, the No. 4 unit and the power plant as a whole has officially taken up the mission to supply electronic power to the northern part of Angola.

The Soyo I Combined Cycle Power Plant is located in the border city of Soyo in north Angola and has a design capacity of 750MW. CMEC is the general contractor of the project. Since construction stared on December 31, 2015, the largest CCPP project in Africa, backed by CMEC's advanced management and solid work, has won high recognition from the project owner and drawn wide attention from all sectors of society. So far, its No. 4 unit has been connected to the grid since July, No. 3 unit has achieved constant speed in August, and the rest of the work is proceeding as scheduled. With meticulous management and outstanding work, the project team has built up the image of CMEC.