Forrest behind $100bn Congo hydro project

GREG Barns points to Andrew Forrest’s complexity when considering his bid for Huon Aquaculture (Talking Point, September 6). Here’s another bit of it.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s president Felix Tshisekedi has just signed a $100 billion deal granting Forrest exclusive rights to develop the Grand Inga hydro project on the Congo River. This project’s power output is twice that of China’s Three Gorges Dam and involves 25,000 Congolese being evicted from their homes.

The deal has huge consequences for the river (700 fish species for starters) and its remnant rainforests and wildlife. The Inga Falls and astonishing rapids will cease to exist.

Hundreds of kilometres of transmission lines to other countries from Grand Inga will sever central Africa’s rainforests.

Vegetation rotting beneath the reservoir will release methane and accelerate global warming.

Most Congolese are not connected to the grid and would be better off with solar options meeting their needs. Forrest wants to produce hydrogen with the power, but his Grand Inga project is shaping up as a globally contentious socio-environmental disaster.

Bob Brown

Cygnet