The Grand Inga delusion
The huge hydroelectric project is part of South African foreign policy, even though it makes little economic or environmental sense
Every time South African officials get together with their Congolese counterparts, the subject of the Grand Inga Dam is on the agenda.
The mammoth hydroelectric project, on the Congo River in the western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been in the works for more than a decade and could power the whole of southern Africa, claim its supporters — if it ever gets built.
South Africa is a key partner, having pledged repeatedly to buy the excess electricity produced by the dam. The government has even signed the Grand Inga Hydropower Project Treaty, which commits South Africa to buying 2500 megawatts (MW) of electricity if the Inga 3 Dam actually gets up and running. As the department of energy told Parliament in 2016, according to the parliamentary monitoring group: “Without South Africa, the project would not go ahead. South Africa was anchoring it.”
But sources in the department of energy say that buying hydroelectric power from the DRC and transmitting it across three international borders is not based on a need. South Africa has enough electricity because the economy is growing sluggishly and demand is the same as it was in 2007. And South Africa’s new energy plan, the Integrated Resource Plan 2018, calls for a mix of wind, solar and gas to complement existing coalfired power stations.
The provision to buy power from Inga 3 has apparently been forced into the energy plan by policymakers. It is acknowledged as politicking in the Southern African Development Community, giving South Africa influence with the Congolese government, and especially President Joseph Kabila, though energy planners don’t expect that any electricity will actually flow south.
South Africa’s military is also