www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2018-10-22-drc-sets-deadline-for-multibillion-dollar-inga-3-hydropower-plant-proposals/
DRC sets deadline for multibillion-dollar Inga 3 hydropower plant proposals 22 OCTOBER 2018 – 05:06 AGENCY STAFF [image: The Inga dam in the DRC. Picture: REUTERS] <lh3.googleusercontent.com/opoUU52WVeFi-6oWJbV2oFrlgvzdoVBI3NqEV2j3ZGRgweyo9z1fkfKOavU3K5Ionu3Pgjew973eXfJRFkw6I31zVgPmJ4hqlg=s1200> The Inga dam in the DRC. Picture: REUTERS Image:
Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo gave two groups of investors a four-week deadline to submit a joint proposal on the development of the multibillion-dollar Inga 3 hydropower plant.
The government signed an accord with Chinese and Spanish consortia last week to advance the 11,000MW facility, the first time it has formally appointed entities to draw up plans to develop Inga since the project was announced about a decade ago. The Chinese group includes China Three Gorges and State Grid International Development, while the Spanish partners comprise Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA and AEE Power Holdings.
“There have been tenders, lots of meetings, lots of promotional activities, but it’s only today that we have for the first time a legal document,” Bruno Kapandji, director of the Agency for the Development and Promotion of the Grand Inga Project, or ADPI, told reporters after a signing ceremony on October 16.
The accord calls for the creation of a single consortium by the two groups, which have been co-operating since last year on an “optimised bid” on how to bring the project to fruition, he said. Multiple phases and several contracts still need to be completed before construction can begin.
By November 10, the groups must hand over a joint proposal that includes a financial model and timeline, according to the accord. The government will then negotiate an “exclusive collaboration contract” with the single consortium that will enable the co-developers to consider themselves the project’s “prospective concessionaires”, it states.