President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, recently announced plans to build a smaller version of the Inga III hydropower project. This was announced by him in his State of the Nation Address. The Inga III dam will start with a production of 4,800 megawatts. Gradually its capacity will be increased to 7,500 megawatts and 11,000 megawatts in the long term. The joint proposal for the dam was submitted in 2018 by Spanish and Chinese developers. According to the proposal, the dam which will have an ultimate capacity of 11,050 megawatt would entail a cost of about US$14 billion. The DRC officials are expected to meet representatives of the African Development Bank in Côte d’Ivoire on or before 20 December. An agreement is expected to be signed on the construction of the project, according to President Tshisekedi. Inga 111 would be the biggest hydroelectric power station on the continent.
