Six Chinese companies headed by China Three Gorges Corporation and AEE Power Holdings of Madrid, Spain, formed a consortium to implement the proposed 11,050 MW Inga III hydropower project on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the new agreement, the six Chinese companies in the consortium own 75% of the shares in the project, while the Spanish company AEE Power Holdings owns 25%. The latter will retain this share in the future special purpose tool, which will be developed to ensure the financial mobilization of the project.

Expectations of the project

The $14 billion project includes the construction of two dams and transmission lines of approximately 2,000 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the border. Upon completion, the Inga III hydropower project is expected to energize Kinshasa, drive the development of the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and earn foreign exchange from exporting electricity. In 2013, an agreement was signed with South Africa to supply about 2.5GW of electricity through the Sapp transmission line. Nigeria and Angola in Western Africa are also expected to benefit from the project.

It is expected that it will also help achieve the goal of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which is to strengthen the interconnection of electricity across Africa, and help stabilize the political conditions of the African countries involved through cross-border cooperation on the African continent and other regions. Editor/Huang Lijun