The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved two grants totaling US$5.25M to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for development of the Inga hydropower plant.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved two grants totaling US$5.25M to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for development of the Inga hydropower plant.
Playing a key role in the development process of the Inga 3 project, the two grants will help in the commencement of the crucial phase of preparing institutional and technical plans. At the institutional level, part of the grant will help finance a national and permanent structure for the promotion and development of Inga’s hydroelectric potential. At the technical level, the resources will be used to provide the country with legal and strategic advisers as part of efforts to create a public-private partnership for the development of the first phase of the Grand Inga (Inga 3).
This new AfDB support is a continuation of the institution’s many and varied actions undertaken since 2008 to help the DRC government to develop Inga’s vast hydroelectric potential, estimated at 44,000MW. It follows the provision of over US$15M to finance a feasibility study which defined the development pattern of the Grand Inga by successive phases, with the first named Inga 3. The first step focuses on the installation of an estimated capacity of 4800MW.
It was announced last month that construction of Inga 3 is due to start in October 2015.