﻿How the 80 billion dollars grand inga dam would provide power to 40% of Africa
The Grand Inga Dam, located in western Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) on the Congo River, is the world’s largest proposed hydropower scheme.
It is a series of seven proposed hydroelectric power stations at the site of the Inga Falls,
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project would be located across the Congo River,
approximately 150 kilometres, upstream of where the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
The massive dam is part of a greater vision by the international economic community to develop
a power grid across Africa that will spur the continent's industrial economic development.
The project would involve building a dam across the south of the Bundi River valley
where it meets the Congo, then diverting the Congo from above the waterfalls into the north
of the valley to create a huge reservoir. Itis anticipated that the vertical drop, the volume
and velocity of water flow at this site, can support a series of hydroelectric power stations,
each with generation capacity ranging from 4 to 8 GW for a total of 40 GW for the whole complex.
Inga III Power Station with capacity of 4.8 GW, would be the first power station in the series,
to be constructed. The current design allows for the independent development of the different
power stations in the series, as well as the phased development of each station.
Each of the seven dams could be owned by different investors
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Africa faces a huge energy gap that has contributed to slow economic development
and poverty. On the other hand, Africa has a huge potential for all forms of energy – hydropower,
solar, wind and fossil fuel energy. The proponents of the Grand Inga project (mainly
African governments and development organizations) consider hydropower to be clean renewable energy.
They have put forward arguments that the Grand Inga hydropower scheme will provide cheaper and
readily available energy and allow Africa’s industrial and manufacturing industry to take
off. In addition, the project is promoted as being good for promoting peace in the region and for
the environment. However, a number of concerns that include environmental and social impacts
of this project have not yet been addressed and all energy options are still to be explored.
South Africa and the DRC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November 2011 for
the development of Grand Inga. In May 2013 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
announced that construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric project will begin in October 2015.
Upon completion, according to the DRC, the project will bring electricity to half the African
continent. The project is a colossal $80 billion enhancement of the existing 351 MW Inga 1 and
1,424 MW Inga 2 plants, which were completed in 1972 and 1982, respectively. With funding
from South Africa, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and others,
the U.S.$80 billion Grand Inga Hydroelectric project will construct a 44,000 megawatt (MW) dam
anchored to a new transmission network able to distribute electricity to all four of sub-Saharan
Africa’s regional electricity power pools. The Ultimate goal is to construct a complex capable
of energy supply for the entire sub-Saharan region with a cumulative output capacity 42
GW electricity generation. Upon completion, the project would be the world’s largest power plant
and would generate more than the world’s two biggest hydropower plants, Three Gorges in
China and Itaipu in SouthAmerica, combined. The project has been estimated to cost US $80 billion,
including cost of the transmission lies needed to carry its power across Africa and potentially
to Europe. Notably, the US$80B price tag is just an estimation, which is likely to be much more—a
figure that will need robust power purchase agreements to establish investor confidence.
Inga III is currently in the design phase, with the ultimate design
and size being a subject of signficant debate. The construction of the successive phases of
Grand Inga will hinge on availability of a market and funding for the projects.
Now the success of Inga III, which is in the design phase, and the construction of
the successive phases, hinge on the availability of market interest and funding for the projects.
Since the DRC’s current power demand is only at around 4,200MW, the strategy is
to become a power exporter to the region. In June 2020, the Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo resolved to present the project to the regional heads of State and
explore the market on the continent for the power generated. They have recruited the African Union
and the New Partnership for Africa's Development in their efforts to get the power station
built. South Africa has indicated willingness to buy 2.5 GW of the dam's output. Nigeria is
interested in buying 3 GW and the Congolese mines in Katanga Province are interested in 1.3 GW
In August 2020, A delegation of German investors visited Kinshasa
looking at investment opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s
(DRC) energy and railway transport sectors. The business representatives showed interest
in eight potential railway corridors, which are fundamental for the DRC’s economic development,
but the big investment target lies in the Inga III Dam. After years of delays caused by difficulties
in securing funding, German and European Union-led financing could finally see the project take off.
The Grand Inga Dam project, touted as having the potential to supply green electricity to
most of Africa has received a fresh boost, after Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group,
confirmed its alliance with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
to invest in the development of the world’s largest hydroelectric project in Africa.
Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest is taking his newfound zeal for renewable energy
to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The founder and chairman of A$70 billion (US$54B) Fortescue
Metals has persuaded President Felix Tshisekedi to let his company lead development of hydroelectric
power stations to generate as much as 40 gigawatts, or more than double China’s
Three Gorges complex. It’s part of his fledgling drive to turn fossil-fuel-free hydrogen into a
US$12 trillion global market by 2050. This African plan, however, borders on green megalomania.
The dream of turning the waterway into a huge energy hub, known as Grand Inga, is decades old.
Companies including BHP and Spain’s Actividades de Construccion y Servicios
have had a crack at it before retreating. Political risk is a big factor, and the project
could cost US$80B, according to estimates several years ago. The original idea of transporting power
via cables to South Africa and elsewhere on the continent is also inefficient. Big
dams are generally a fool’s errand, wreaking havoc on wildlife, and water and soil quality,
affecting farming. Their reservoirs increase evaporation, too, though the Congolese project
would exploit a large vertical drop at the Inga Falls and therefore require less storage. Such
projects are also notoriously hard to control. On average, costs exceed initial estimates by 96%,
according to a 2014 Oxford University study. Even assuming Forrest, also known as Twiggy,
can pull it off, his plan of converting the electricity to hydrogen to be shipped to Europe
and elsewhere raises two additional problems. First, taking energy from Africa, which lacks
sufficient electricity, reeks of neo-colonialism. Second, it may not stack up financially.
The European Union reckons it will have 300 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050,
much of it in the North Sea dedicated to making hydrogen, which can be piped into
existing infrastructure. Inga’s gas-processing plants will have to be built from scratch.
And within Africa, wind and solar power is quicker and cheaper to build. Forrest’s green
enthusiasm is to be applauded, even if Fortescue is still developing a carbon-spewing gas-fired
power station in Australia. It should not, however, ignore less bombastic alternatives.
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