The World Bank has postponed its decision on a proposed $73 million grant for the 4800MW Inga 3 dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A meeting was due to be held on 11 February where the banks board of directors were due to vote on the grant - this has now been moved back, with a new date for the vote yet to be set.
Inga 3 is the first part of the 40,000MW Grand Inga project on the Congo River. The project is due to be built in two phases. The first, expected 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
Following these, a further five plants will be installed take the Grand Inga project capacity to 40,000 MW.
In November last year, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved US$68M in financing for the multinational Inga Site Development and Electricity Access Support Project (PASEL), a project which was set to finalize preparation for Inga 3.
