AfDB supports Inga mega hydro-power project

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Tunis , Nov. 22 , GNA – A hydroelectric project which is aiming to produce 44,000 megawatts (MW) – half of Africa's installed electricity capacity – has received $ 68 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for further development. The Inga Site Development and Electricity Access Support Project (PASEL), which is located on the banks of the Congo River , will use the money to develop a power-generating capacity of 4,800 MW and build power transmission lines to supply electricity to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Africa . PASEL's undertaking is to finalise the preparation of the first phase of Inga 3. PASEL will develop local institutions and the technical, legal and financial skills needed to attract private capital for the completion of the complex Inga 3 project. "This is the right project for the DRC and the Bank – at the right time," said Alex Rugamba , Director of the AfDB's Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department . "It is timely because it facilitates the implementation of Inga 3 whose investment costs would otherwise be difficult to mobilise in the current context of the DRC." The AfDB's support, which comes in the form of a Fragile States Facility grant of $ 7.7 million and an African Development Fund grant of $ 60.6 million , accounts for 43 per cent of the total project cost of $ 169 million . With this approval, the support of the AfDB to the Inga 3, since the inception of the mandate to lead the implementation of the NEPAD Infrastructure Action Plan, will amount to $ 90 million . The AfDB's financing will be used to cover the cost of technical assistance to ensure the completion of preparatory activities for Inga 3. It will also help address electricity scarcity in remote areas that are not directly covered by Inga but where the DRC intends to develop electrical systems around micro- or mini-hydropower plants. Improved access to electricity is also expected in the semi-urban areas of Kinshasa for more than 25,000 households. PASEL builds on previous AfDB support to the Inga Hydropower Project , which led to the development of institutional and technical plans; a feasibility study, which defined the development pattern of the Grand Inga by successive phases; and the identification of an innovative approach to the project that will guarantee the full realisation of Inga's hydro-electricity potential and promote integration in Africa . Inga 3 will increase access to more reliable and cheaper energy in the DRC, contributing to an increase from the current nine per cent to over 40 per cent by 2020. It is also expected to improve the business climate and productivity of the economies of countries benefiting from the project. Current demand for electricity in the region is huge and steady, guaranteeing a market for energy to be produced from the hydropower plant. Indeed, South Africa has already signed an agreement with the DRC to import about half of the electricity that will be produced, guaranteeing the financial viability of the project. Signed by the presidents of South Africa and DRC last month, the treaty, which is the framework for the energy-purchase agreement, is awaiting ratification by their respective national parliaments. GNA