South African PPA will give Inga III impetus as Zuma plans trip to DR Congo

Rare is the Inga contract that is signed on time, and even rarer is its implementation, but according to officials in Kinshasa, the governments of Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa should finally sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the sale of electricity from the future Inga III hydroelectric dam to Eskom when President Jacob Zuma visits Kinshasa in late October. DRC Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity officials announced on 27 September that Kinshasa was about to conclude its much-anticipated PPA with South Africa for the sale of 2,500MW from Inga III. This would allow for construction to start in October 2015. The DRC government anticipates the plant’s inauguration in 2020-21, with Eskom purchasing more than half of Inga III’s projected 4,800MW capacity. Katanga-based mining industries would take 1,300MW, while the rest of the vast country, including Kinshasa, would take the remaining 1,000MW.