Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo --
The Democratic Republic of Congo is open to more investors joining
three groups of companies bidding to construct the $12 billion Inga 3
hydropower project, Energy Minister Bruno Kapandji said.
“We’re open to other operators” joining the bid
groups, Kapandji told the iPad mining and infrastructure conference
yesterday in the capital, Kinshasa. “The candidates are not closed.” Congo will choose a development group for the
4,800-megawatt project in June or July of next year, Max Munga,
Kapandji’s technical adviser, told the conference. The bid groups are
currently made up of China Three Gorges Corp. and Sinohydro Corp.; Posco
and Daewoo Corp. of South Korea in partnership with Canada’s
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.; and Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA,
based in Madrid, and Spain’s Eurofinsa Group.
Construction on the Congo River may begin in October
2015 and power generation could start in 2020. Congo is set to sign a
treaty this month that will guarantee 2,500 megawatts from the project
for South Africa.
Inga 3 will be the first step in the Grand Inga
project, which may eventually produce more than 40,000 megawatts of
electricity, making it the largest source of hydropower in the world. About 170 square kilometers (66 square miles) around the Congo River will be flooded to create a total of 8 Inga hydropower plants, Munga said.
Inga 1, built in 1972, and Inga 2, completed in 1982,
have the capacity to produce about 1,775 megawatts, though they are
being refurbished and operating below capacity.
Earth’s Circumference
For Inga 3, Congo will construct 1,841 kilometers of
high-tension lines to its border with Zambia, Munga said. South Africa
will install 1,540 kilometers of lines from Zambia through Zimbabwe to
Witkop, he said. The total combined distance of the lines would stretch
around the circumference of the earth, he said.
Congo will provide 1,300 megawatts of power from Inga 3
to miners in Katanga province, with the remaining 1,000 megawatts for
internal use outside of mining, Munga said. Congo is the world’s eighth-largest copper producer
and its miners currently have a power deficit of more than 300
megawatts, according to Kapandji. The shortfall has forced some mining
companies to install generators or buy electricity from Zambia to run
processing plants.
The country only has about 2,400 megawatts of
installed power capacity and because of mismanagement, only about half
of that energy is available, according to the World Bank. Only 9 percent
of Congo’s 70 million people have electricity, Kapandji said.
After the initial phase of Inga 3 construction is
complete, an increase in the level of water powering its turbines could
improve power generation by about 3,000 megawatts, Munga said, bringing
the total capacity to 7,800 megawatts. Nigeria has shown interest in
purchasing power from the next phase, he said.
Copyright 2013 Bloomberg
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/10/congo-open-to-more-investors-joining-inga-hydropower-project
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