ILLUMINATED AFRICA:
T
he T ree Gorges Dam spanning China’s Yangtze River is the biggest hydroelectric project in the world. When it was completed in 2012, the dam’s reservoir holding 9 cubic miles of water literally caused a slight wobble in the orbit of the planet. Now, a new project
has been proposed that will eclipse even the T ree Gorges site. T is one will be built on one of the biggest rivers in the world, right in the heart of humanity’s homeland.
T is new project is set to power half of Africa. For nearly fi fty years, the dream of harnessing the power of the mighty Congo River has remained only a fl eeting notion, but this year brought new developments and a proposed project that was announced in Paris this past summer. “A myth dreamed of for 40 years, Grand Inga is becoming a reality with an action plan spread over several plants which will be added in stages,” read a statement from the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the Paris meeting. T e DRC is planning to harness the potential power of the Congo by building the Grand Inga: the largest hydroelectric project in the world. It’s estimated the fi nished dam will generate 40,000 megawatts (MW) of power, doubling the T ree Gorges Dam in China, which is currently the world’s largest. Proponents of the Grand Inga are hailing it as a “holy
grail” that will literally bring light to half the continent by channeling the power of the greatest river in sub-Saharan Africa. On the continent, the Congo is only outsized by the Nile in northeastern Africa, which is generally recognized as the longest river in the world. T e Paris announcement revealed a plan to begin
the fi rst phase of a new set of energy projects based at Inga Falls as early as October 2015. With a budget of $12 billion, Inga III will have an overall output of almost 4800 megawatts. South Africa has already signed-on to purchase half of the energy produced by the project.
24 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
But, Inga III is just the beginning. T e visionary project ultimately calls for fi ve more developments before the Grand Inga will be complete. Proponents say that once it’s fi nished the complex of dams will supply more than 500 million people with renewable energy. Clearly, Grand Inga is a one-of-a-kind build, but Congo has gained experience developing hydroelectric projects in past years. While much smaller than Inga III, Inga I and Inga II have already been built. Proponents of the Grand Inga project point to these successes to reassure critics who don’t believe the entire project can be realized. However, those critics often fi re back with the fact that while the Inga I and Inga II have been built, both are operating at only a fraction of their producing capacity. Combined, the dams should be generating 1,775 MW. Currently they’re only cranking out about 700 MW. Between today’s newly revived Inga project and the
40-year-old grand pan-African electrical power dream, Congo’s seen decades of confl ict and misrule. While Inga II and I were completed over the ten years between 1972 and 1982, the long neglected facilities are in a sorry state of disrepair. A recent Reuters story described the scene: Instead, in the cavernous halls of Inga’s two dams, water drips from the ceiling and rusted pipes sit above puddles. Five of the 14 turbines no longer spin at all, a sign of the decay. Currently, all the power the Inga II and I produce goes to supporting the copper mining industry in the southern
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