In its early post-independence years, it had developed the Inga I and II projects which supplied the country, with increasingly intermittent hydro-electric power. The government of DRC has long wanted to develop the Inga III dam on the Congo. This would produce somewhere between 4,000-5,000MW per year. But the intentions of the DRC go well beyond this and the government would, over time, like to develop what is known as the Grand Inga Dam project which would provide some 40,000mw from the Congo at a staggering cost of between $80-100 billion. Such a dam would then be twice as large as the Three Gorges in China.
The World Bank estimates that the Congo River could, if its hydro resources are properly used, generate up to 100,000MW of electricity. This would be enough to supply all of Africa for many years to come. Most importantly it is 'green' and it is very cheap, indeed the cheapest source of electric power in the world. But that is where the benefits of reliance on the DRC as a source of supply for Africa's power should end.
