The Grand Inga Dam is a series of seven proposed

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power stations at the site of the

Inga Falls Inga Falls is a rapid 40 km from Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the Congo River drops 96 m (315 ft) over the course of 15 km (9 mi).World Waterfalls DatabasInga Falls The falls are part of a larger g ...

, in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. If built as planned, the 40-70 GW project would be the largest power station in the world.

Location

The project would be located across the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

, approximately , upstream of where the river empties into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. This is approximately , southwest of

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, the capital and largest city of the DR Congo. This is the site of the

and is the location of the 351 MW Inga 1 Hydropower Station and the 1,424 MW Inga 2 Hydropower Station, approximately upstream of

Matadi Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...

, the country's largest port.

Overview

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. It is 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.

Financing

The total construction bill for Grand Inga has been calculated to be as high as $80 billion. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

and the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

, have provided funding for feasibility and environmental impact studies. In 2016, the World Bank cancelled its support for the Grand Inga Project. It is expected that the power stations will be developed as a

public private partnership In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

project.

Recent developments

In June 2020, the

Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second institution in the central executive branch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the first institution being the President, who has the title of head of state. Description ...

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 The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

and the

New Partnership for Africa's Development The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to p ...

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.

References

External links