Banks and major energy companies are gathering in London to discuss how they might get involved in the Grand Inga hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The proposed US$80bn project represents the world's largest hydropower scheme, potentially capable of producing over twice the power of China's Three Gorges Dam. Much of the electricity is expected to be exported to countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt. The World Energy Council (WEC) is overseeing the project, which is being developed by Westcor, a conglomerate of power companies from African countries as well as international power and engineering firms such as Sweden’s ABB, E.ON of Germany, France’s EDF and SNC-Lavalin in Canada.
The dam is intended to be built about 90 miles from the mouth of the Congo, where there is one of the largest waterfalls, in terms of volume, in the world.
There are already two smaller hydroelectric plants, Inga 1 and 2, built near the site in the 1970s.
The World Energy Council (WEC) is running a two-day workshop on "How to make the Grand Inga hydropower project happen for Africa,” between April 21-22 and it is attracting government officials, senior level executives for global energy firms as well as major banks and WEC members.
Developing the hydropower potential in Africa is one of the key aims of the WEC Millennium Energy Goals of Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability. Around 500mn people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity. The provision of stable electricity is one way of supporting long-term economic development in the region and approximately only 7% of the continent’s current hydropower potential is being presently exploited.
Discussions over the Grand Inga project date back to the 1980s, but it is felt that the current economic and political situation in DRC has become more conducive to getting the project started. There is also growing political and public support for Africa in the international community, including from the G8, EU and the UN.
Demand for electricity is also soaring as are prices for fossil fuels and electricity, making the need to increase Sub-Saharan Africa’s capacity for electricity production even more acute.
WEC is putting into place an action plan for the project, and feasibility studies still need to be completed. Initial targets for the final investment decision for construction expected to take place by 2014, with the aim of completing construction by 2022.
The project is also catching the attention of banks and private companies interested in investing in projects that can produce carbon credits under the UN’s carbon emission reduction scheme. By investing in projects that produce clean energy in developing countries, developed nations can secure the UN’s clean development mechanism credits and use them to offset their own polluting gas emissions.
Interest in hydropower in Africa has been growing in recent years, with a number of dam projects under discussion as a means of solving the severe power shortage problems in the region. (Click here to read more about the global power sector, in GTR January-February 2008)
The World Bank has been one of the key players leading investment, having lent its support to the US$800m Bujagali hydropower plant being built on the Nile at Lake Victoria in Uganda closed at the end of 2007. (Click here to read more about the power project in GTR January-February 2008)
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