The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has asked the Chinese hydropower project developer China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) and a consortium led by Spanish construction group ACS to submit a joint bid for the construction of the Inga-3 hydropower project on the Congo River. The government expects a single bid to be optimized and to solve financing problems, after the World Bank suspended disbursements for the project in July 2016 over transparency concerns.
The 4,800 MW Inga-3 project on the Congo River is planned to expand the capacity of the existing power plants Inga-1 (406 MW) and Inga-2 (1,424 MW). The US$14bn project is developed as part of the eight-stage Grand Inga project that is planned to add 44 GW of new hydropower capacity at a cost of US$50-80bn.
Part of the capacity of Inga-3 would be reserved to supply South Africa (2,500 MW) and 1,300 MW would supply the DRC’s mining sector; the remaining 1,000 MW would help the country meet domestic demand and electrify rural areas. The project has been repeatedly delayed by disagreements between Congo and its partners and by administrative problems. Construction is expected to last 4 to 5 years.
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