The first phase of construction of the 40,000MW Grand Inga project on the Congo River - the world's largest hydro scheme - is to start in October 2015, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced.
In a meeting held on 18 May, stakeholders discussed implementation of the first phase of the major project, the 4800MW Inga 3 plant. The meeting followed the signing of an energy cooperation treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of South Africa on 7 March 2013 which will see South Africa purchase a significant share of the electricity production.
Inga 3 work is being split into two phases. The first, to start 2015, is the Inga 3 Low-Head project, which will not involve damming the river. Construction work here is expected to cost US$8.5B. The second phase - Inga 3 High-Head - will involve construction of a dam and will add 3000MW of capacity. Followng these, a further five plants will be installed take the Grand Inga project capacity to 40,000 MW.
Three consortia are currently in the running to develop the project: China's Sinohydro and Three Gorges Corporation; Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS), Eurofinsa and AEE from Spain; and the Daewoo-Posco-SNC Lavalin consortium from Korea and Canada, DRC said in a statement.
