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ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP
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WATER WORLD: This stretch of the Congo may someday power all of Africa |
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Take Me To The River |
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Can the mighty Congo be tapped for power without destroying fragile ecosystems? |
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By MARK HALPER |
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Posted Monday, May 10, 2004 17:05 GMT
Mention the Congo river and many people think of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness. But if a consortium of governments and utilities has its way, the mighty Congo will one day conjure up images of light. Plans are under way to build the world's largest hydroelectric power plant 300 km downstream from Kinshasa. If projections are accurate, the new plant — called Grand Inga — could produce 39,000 MW of electricity, three times more than any existing hydro plant in the world and enough to export to markets throughout Africa and Europe. Best of all, its backers say, it can be constructed without building the large dams that make other hydro plants environmentally unsound. "It's a big dream," says Reiner Jagau, chief technical adviser at NamPower, Namibia's national power generator, part of a group of five African power companies behind the $6 billion scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The group is highly aware of the environmental damage caused when dams flood animal habitats and displace communities; the 600-km reservoir created by the Three Gorges dam in China has already uprooted more than 800,000 people and is expected to displace nearly 2 million by 2009. Instead, the Inga backers plan to use a technology known as "run of river." Damless waterpower, of course, dates back to the ancient invention of the water wheel. Modern run-of-river hydro plants typically anchor turbines in riverbeds, in a diverted river channel or below a waterfall. They're not uncommon — there are many in Canada, Hawaii, Norway and Switzerland — but their output is usually much less than a dammed plant, and nowhere near that envisioned for the Congo, which will require only a small dam.
So far, the plan exists only on paper; actual construction on Grand Inga is unlikely to begin for a decade or more. But Grand Inga is already a central part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a multinational consortium that seeks to improve Africa's image and infrastructure. It hopes that Grand Inga will spark a regional economic boom. Many questions remain. Some environmentalists say that the facility is not as green as it seems. "Big projects are likely to have a big environmental impact," says Ute Collier, dams initiative leader for the World Wildlife Foundation. Among the concerns: even a small dam could block sediment from flowing to coastal areas where it is needed; a slower river would offer less spray that feeds vegetation; and fish could disappear, depriving local inhabitants of their livelihood. Skeptics also question whether the electricity will really reach Africa's rural areas since the infrastructure is not in place to deliver power. But, argues NamPower's Jagau, the potential rewards are tremendous: "You should dream of such things. If you don't, you may as well pack up and go home."
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