The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced the appointment of Fortescue Metals Group for the development of the Grand Inga hydroelectric power project.

This announcement came barely a week after the Australian company revealed that it was in talks with DRC to develop a series of dams that could lead to the formation of the world’s largest hydroelectric project.

According to reports, the company will invest US$ 80bn in this project, which includes the construction of six more dams that would bring the project’s total capacity to over 40,000 MW, roughly double the size of the largest hydroelectric dam project in the world i.e. Three Gorges dam in China.

To date, Inga hydroelectric power project is made up of two dams with a combined installed capacity of nearly 1,800 MW and whose construction was completed in 1972 and 1982.

In addition to the construction of the dams, Fortescue plans to construct a port and production units for hydrogen and green ammonia in its quest to become a green energy giant in Africa.

Project overview

The Grand Inga hydroelectric power project is set for development across the Congo River, approximately 150 kilometers upstream of where the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It is estimated that the vertical drop, the volume, and velocity of water flow at this site, can support a series of hydroelectric power stations, each with generation capacity ranging from 4 to 8.

In 2018, a Chinese consortium that includes China Three Gorges Corporation and a Spanish consortium that includes AEE Power signed a deal with Congo’s government to develop the third dam (Inga 3) the first power station in the series with a capacity of 4.8 GW.

However, the ground is yet to be broken owing to questions over the project’s financial viability.