Grand Inga Dam Proposal Receives Mixed Reception

A recent energy controversy which would affect a large portion of European Union’s energy supply has made headlines, as the EU government considers the possibility of pumping energy directly in from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region which as long been viewed as volatile by the rest of the globe.

The proposed project, a dam located on the Congo river to be called the Grand Inga, has already received approval from the World Bank. The project will need funding of up to  $80bn (£48bn). The Grand Inga will be capable of generating 40,000 MW of electricity, which would then be linked to transmission cable lines running from the Congo to West Africa, including Nigeria. 

The recent controversary, however, has stemmed from new plans to connect the pipelines from the Grand Inga dam to be used to supply power to Europe. The EU just approved pipelines running from NIgeria, Niger, and Albania to supply gas to Europe in a $12 bn agreement signed recently. Additionally a cable will also be added to run power through the Sahara and up into Egypt, and finally Southern Europe. Part of these plans are attached to Desertec’s new solar project in the Sahara desert which would also supply solar power to Southern Europe.  

A number of human rights groups are outraged at the idea of supplying the power through to Europe, during a time when most African households are without power. Currently, only 30% of African homes have access to electrical power. 

“Under the guise of bringing power to poor Africans, development banks are looking to put tens of billions of public money into a flight of fantasy that would only benefit huge Western multinationals and quite possibly feed African energy into European households,” said Anders Lustgarten of the Bretton Woods Project, which scrutinises the World Bank and IMF.

The World Bank has stated that concern exists over whether or not a large scale African energy project risks having its energy harvested and transported to Europe, but also maintains that the overall funding for the project hinges on selling a portion of the energy to richer markets to insure investment interests. Should the project be completed, over 500 million Africans could receive electricity.

The three part project, is currently in the first phase of development. It is estimated that plans for the dam will not be completed for another five years time. The African Development Bank, The World Bank, and the World Energy Council are working jointly on the plants for the project. Construction is estimated to take another ten years after plans have been approved.

Thanks to guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this story please view their website.