Congo to start work on US$13.9b Inga 3 facility

KINSHASA: Congo plans to start work this year on the frequently delayed Inga 3 hydropower project, after receiving a joint bid from two previously competing consortia of investors.

One group led by China Three Gorges Corp and another including Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA of Spain submitted a joint bid on June 6 for the project that will produce 11,000 megawatts (MW) and is predicted to cost US$13.9 billion (RM55.41 billion), said Bruno Kapandji, director of the Agency for the Development and Promotion of the Grand Inga Project on Wednesday.

“Our aim is to start Inga this year,” said Kapandji.

“The two consortia have given us a document in which they committed to creating a single consortium. We are in the process of preparing, discussing and negotiating the exclusive collaboration contract which will allow the single candidate to go to the market to find the financing.”

Congo has been mulling the build for more than a decade to address a power shortage that has curbed mining-industry growth.

A treaty signed in 2013 provided for the plant to export 2,500MW of power to South Africa. The plant would form part of a larger Grand Inga hydropower complex spanning part of the Congo River and produce as much as 50,000MW when complete, said the World Bank.