Symbion Power unit Hydro-Link has inked a preliminary agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo to construct the $1.5 billion Angola-DRC Transmission Line. This power transmission line will allow power supply to key copper and cobalt mines from hydropower sites in neighboring Angola.
The power line is expected to cover a distance of 720-miles (1,160-kilometer). Additionally, the project will deliver a total of 1,200 megawatts of electricity to Congo’s main mining region. This mining region often runs on diesel generators. This is because because the central African country is unable to guarantee sufficient power supply.
“I’m pleased by this partnership. Also, I urge American investors to follow suit,” Aime Sakombi Molendo who is Congo’s minister of hydraulic resources and electricity stated after the signing at a US-Congo investment conference that was held in Washington on Tuesday.
Angola-DRC Transmission Line Factsheet
Project name: Angola-DRC Power Transmission Line Project
Cost: $1.5 Billion
Lead developer: Hydro-Link
Key partners: Mitrelli Group, Sargent & Lundy
Length: Approximately 1,150 kilometers (720 miles)
Power source: Hydro-power sites in Angola, such as the Lauca power plant, which has surplus energy capacity.
Capacity: designed to deliver up to 1,200 Megawatts (1.2 GW) of electricity.
Timeline: scheduled for completion by 2029.
Financing: Hydro-Link is reportedly seeking funding from US government entities, including the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), US Trade and Development Agency, and US Export-Import Bank for feasibility and approximately 70% of the project cost.
Further Discussions by US and Congo
Furthermore, US and Congo are discussing a minerals, infrastructure and security pact that will promote private investment by US firms.
Additionally, in a deal that was designed to resonate with President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, Hydro-Link expects to award contracts to supply wire, insulators, hardware and other equipment to US-based manufacturers. These contracts that will be awarded to the US-based manufacturers will be more than 30% of the total project outlay.
Funding
The firm will seek a loan from the US Development Finance Corp. To cover about 70% of the project cost, said Paul Hinks, Hydro-Link’s chief executive officer and a founder of New York-based Symbion, which started out building transmission lines in Iraq in 2005. It will also request financing from the US Trade and Development Agency for feasibility studies and export credits from the US Export-Import Bank.
Project Partners
Swiss-based Mitrelli Group will be partnering with Hydro-Link on the project, and US firm Sargent & Lundy is providing engineering design services, according to Hydro-Link.
The company will ship the electricity to a region in Congo with some of the richest deposits of copper, cobalt, zinc, lithium and manganese in the world, where a lack of power has hindered development.
Congo’s miners, including Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Glencore Plc and CMOC Group Ltd., currently face a deficit of at least 1,500 megawatts, according to the mines ministry.
Hydro-Link already signed a related memorandum of understanding with Angola in June. This MoU allowed the shipment of power from the country’s Lauca plant and other hydroelectric facilities across the border to the Congolese city of Kolwezi as soon as 2029.
A Change in the Mining Sector to be Powered by Development
“With the development of the mining sector, what we see is the next 10 years, it’s going to be a complete game changer for Congo, the supply of electricity,” Hinks said on Tuesday.
Congo liberalized its energy industry about a decade ago. This allowed private firms to generate, transmit and market power. Therefore, this presented a rare opportunity for energy companies, Hinks said.
“It’s one of the only countries in Africa where you can do this entire value chain privately,” he said.
Similar Projects
DRC is gearing it’s overall power generation capacity that is expected to contribute to its mining sector. This is given the fact that the country boasts vast mineral deposits. In another power generation project that will boost power supply, DRC is seeking to develop the Ruzizi III Hydropower Project. The country is developing this hydropower plant alongside Rwanda and Burundi. Similarly, the hydropower plant project is also backed by a US investor, Anzana.
