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US power developer ContourGlobal aims to complete pre-commissioning of the 25MW first phase of its Lake Kivu methane plant by end-March, then tow the barge out into the lake for the commissioning phase. The innovative project aims to produce 100MW of power from methane dissolved in the lake’s waters, while also averting the risk of a potentially deadly release of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With the 28MW Nyabarongo hydro plant inaugurated by President Paul Kagame on 5 March and the 15MW Gishoma peat plant due on stream in H2, Rwanda’s installed capacity should reach almost 200MW by year-end.

DR Congo | Rwanda
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A commercial agreement on the joint exploitation of hydrocarbons between Angolan national oil company Sonangol and its Congolese equivalent, Cohydro, has sparked controversy in Kinshasa. Key provisions within the agreement remain unclear, and there are fears the deal will reduce Democratic Republic of Congo’s access to potential offshore reserves. The Angolan and Congolese authorities first agreed to look for ways to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Zone d’Intérêt Commun, a 10km offshore corridor covering Angolan blocks 1, 14, 15 and 31, in 2007. But given DRC’s limited access to the sea, and Angola’s determination to maximise its own access to potential oil fields, the stakes have been high and progress has been commensurately slow.

DR Congo | Angola
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In its latest annual report, the Congolese Chamber of Mines has come up with proposals to help tackle the power shortages that are hampering output. According to the report, 2014 copper production reached a record 1,029,800 tonnes, 12.6% higher than 2013, and more than three times the 2008 output. But at the same time, the report warned: “If production is to exceed 1m t/yr consistently, it is essential that the deficit in electricity supply is overcome.” Production growth was supported by power imports from Zambia, and the report said significant production increases in Democratic Republic of Congo could not be envisaged unless domestic power supply improved.

DR Congo
Issue 294 - 13 February 2015

DR Congo: Snel helicopter tender

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Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) is seeking bids for the supply of a helicopter for use in grid surveillance. The purchase is financed from the Southern Africa Power Market Project, funded by the World Bank’s International Development Association. Snel’s project co-ordination office is seeking sealed bids for the supply of a helicopter equipped for the monitoring of high-voltage transmission lines, and the training of Snel staff. Bids are due by 17 March. Contact: Masoso Bumba, Coordonnateur des Projets, Coordination des Projets

DR Congo
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The Virunga National Park will be able to generate a total of 13MW by year-end with the expected inauguration of a second hydropower station financed by the US Howard G Buffett Foundation. The aim of the promoters is to show that the park can provide viable economic alternatives to planned oil exploitation. The 12.6MW Matebe-Rudahiga hydropower station on the Rutshuru River, financed by the foundation with up to $19.7m, is the second hydropower plant in the park, following the January 2014 inauguration of the much smaller 0.4MW Mutwanga hydropower station financed by the European Union (EU).

DR Congo
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Swiss engineering consultancy Stucky has said that the Inga I and II dams show “permanent deformations” and that it is studying the cause.State power utility Société Nationale d’Electricité du Congo (Snel) gave Stucky a contract in 2012 to investigate the causes of permanent deformations in the dams and powerhouses that had been observed since construction. The contract is funded by the World Bank, and work is scheduled to be carried out from 2013 to 2016.

DR Congo
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The government has published a comprehensive atlas of Democratic Republic of Congo’s renewables potential, focusing on the vast hydro resource outside the Grand Inga complex. The 582-page atlas, compiled by experts from the United Nations Development Programme, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the Congolese Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, also outlines potential wind, solar and geothermal projects, and even the biogas potential of Congolese livestock, but the main focus is hydropower, whose total potential is estimated at 100,000MW, including 44,000MW at the Inga site.

DR Congo
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Engineers from France’s Ingerop have started work on a new batch of studies for the rehabilitation of the Ruzizi I and II hydro plants. The contract is financed by the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, which is providing up to €3m ($4m), with Germany’s KfW as lead financier and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) as co-financiers. The studies will assess the rehabilitation needs of the 29.8MW Ruzizi I and 43.8MW Ruzizi II hydropower plants on the Ruzizi River, which marks the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi.

DR Congo
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While preparations for the Grand Inga project make slow progress, the existing infrastructure at the Inga site is under growing pressure. A senior engineer working at the site told African Energy that because of outages, four of the six turbines at Inga I were presently working constantly at full capacity, increasing their risk of breakdown. Total available production from Inga I and II at end-2014 is around 730MW, or 41% of the total installed capacity of both dams (351MW for Inga I and 1,424MW for Inga II).

DR Congo
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Ten months after the suspension of a parliamentary debate on a new oil law, Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo has urged National Assembly deputies to approve the new legislation. Adoption of the draft is one of the reforms needed to maximise tax revenue, the PM said during a 15 October debate over the 2015 budget. The National Assembly has proved resistant to passing the law: a similar appeal was made by hydrocarbons minister Crispin Atama Tabe in May 2013. Ministers are looking to the law to improve the government’s control – and revenue-gathering abilities – over the sector.

DR Congo
Free

The situation at the 1,424MW capacity Inga II plant has become extremely problematic, with state utility Société Nationale d’Électricité (Snel) warning the public in mid-October that Kinshasa and Bas-Congo Province would suffer serious power cuts until December, owing to maintenance problems. Two of Inga II’s five operational 178MW turbines will have to be repaired before end-November. Snel has also announced that Indian engineers and workers from Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL), which is building the second high-voltage power line between Inga and Kinshasa, have stopped working for several weeks due to fears over Ebola.

DR Congo
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The momentum building behind the Grand Inga development, to eventually generate at least 44GW from the Congo River, will benefit Chinese and/or Spanish contractors if the mega-project’s first phase takes off as its supporters – led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank Group (WBG) – believe is now possible. The developer of Grand Inga’s first phase, Inga III Basse Chute (BC – Lower Falls) will be selected in March 2015, water resources and electricity minister Bruno Kapandji Kalala told a 24 October briefing at Democratic Republic of Congo’s Brussels embassy.

DR Congo
Issue 288 - 06 November 2014

Brazilians moot IPP in Western Kasai

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Kinshasa is negotiating with Brazilian construction firm Andrade Gutierrez Group (AG) to build a 250MW hydroelectric project in the area of Tshikapa, Western Kasai, water resources and electricity minister Bruno Kapandji Kalala said on 24 October. The scheme would be economically viable – and could be structured as an independent power project (IPP) – since 100MW generated by one or more hydroelectric dams would be purchased by diamond mining firms in neighbouring Angola’s Lunda Norte Province. Speaking in Brussels, the minister declined to disclose the name of the Brazilian developer, but engineering sector insiders told African Energy that AG was seeking such a contract.

DR Congo
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A 4 September report by anti-corruption campaigner Global Witness has repeated claims of misconduct by Soco International and its contractors in their quest to explore in the Virunga national park. The report, based in part on material gathered for the documentary Virunga, released earlier this year, claims that “Soco and its contractors have made illicit payments, appear to have paid off armed rebels and benefited from fear and violence fostered by government security forces in eastern Congo, as they sought access to Africa’s oldest national park for oil exploration”.

DR Congo
Issue 282 - 26 July 2014

DR Congo/Guinea: EITI compliant

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The Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea have both been admitted as full members of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) at an EITI board meeting in Mexico City. “I congratulate the DRC for becoming a full member of the EITI family. Despite all the challenges facing the country, the Congolese people have been working together to bring transparency and accountability to the management of their natural resources,” said EITI board chair Clare Short. DRC’s candidate status was temporarily suspended on 18 April 2013, following the publication of the 2010 EITI Report, which was found to not meet the EITI requirements. The country has since addressed the issues that led to its suspension, an EITI statement said.

DR Congo | Guinea