AECOM and Electricité de France (EDF) have been awarded $13.4 million for the feasibility study of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Grand Inga hydropower project.
The contract has the two companies conducting a feasibility study on the development of the site and the associated transmission lines. The study is anticipated to be carried out over a period of two years under the direction of Société Nationale d’Électricité, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s power utility.
Controversy has shrouded the major project. The World Bank announced plans in December to fund 30 GW of new power generation in Africa over the next five years, and the Bank’s African energy specialist Reynold Duncan said that the Grand Inga was a potential recipient of funding. However, AECOM and the EDF’s feasibility study will not be financed by the World Bank but instead by the African Development Bank. This could lead to a later capital infusion from the World Bank; however, the project has been in the pipeline for awhile with the first pre-feasibility study conducted in 2007.
The Grand Inga has the potential to be the world’s largest hydropower scheme with the price tag initially set for $80 million (although that has increased with time). It could produce up to 39,000 MW of electricity and is a priority for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and the World Energy Council.
And while the SADC has been onboard, it was also reported in 2009 that the DRC was attempting to entice private investors for the completion of the Inga III (part of the Grand Inga) and snubbing its neighboring SADC countries.
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