Risk and Cost Drive Congo River Hydropower Project to Plan B

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The long-running saga of plans to harness the power of Africa's 4,700-kilometer Congo River using the $10 billion Inga 3 hydropower scheme has again been sent back to the drawing board. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that the current plans may be "too risky" in terms of costs and time.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which stretches along the southern bank of the river, has been funded by the bank to carry out a study to optimize development of the river's massive hydropower potential. The results of a pre-feasibility study are expected to be available in September.

The latest plans for the development of the Inga 3 project involve drilling up to 70 kilometers of tunnels into rock for which the geological structure is not well-known, with the resulting power output amounting to only 3,500 megawatts (MW).

For related information, see November 16, 2010, article - Two Congos Choose Hydropower to Meet Power Gap.

This is a far cry from the original plans of the 1990s, which envisioned generating more than 40,000 MW in the Grand Inga project and transmitting power throughout Africa.

Hela Cheikhrouhou, the director for Energy and Environment at AfDB, has suggested that the current plans were risky because they could cost more and take more time to construct than had been anticipated.

Findings show that it would be better to remove the tunneling option in favor of open channels that could be augmented with a dam. This solution would allow the DRC government to build a 3,500- to 7,000-MW project that will produce electricity at a lower per-unit rate, will be faster to implement and involve risks of potential problems. "We think this is actually a game-changer" said Cheikhrouhou.

The Inga 3 project remains one of the largest proposed projects in Africa aimed at solving the problem of power shortages, which is a major inhibitor to economic growth. With the first hydropower scheme in place on the strong-flowing Congo, others power projects could be launched on the river and its tributaries in the coming decades.

Rough estimates suggest that it would cost about $7 billion for a 3,500-MW project and $14 billion for 7,000 MW of generation. The first power could be generated in 2020 with the project constructed by a public-private partnership. BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) (Melbourne, Australia), South Africa and Nigeria would probably be the main clients for power generated, said Cheikhrouhou.

For related information, see April 4, 2011, article - BHP Aluminum Smelter is Key to Hydropower Project on Congo River.

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