[Bhpbilliton] fwd:Congo Says Talks With BHP Billiton on Inga 3 Power Plant Are Very Advanced

[Michaela Stubbs]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-27/congo-says-talks-with-bhp-on-building-inga-3-very-advanced-.html


Congo Says Talks With BHP Billiton on Inga 3 Power Plant Are Very Advanced
By Michael J. Kavanagh and Jesse Riseborough - Oct 27, 2010 4:43 AM PT Wed Oct 
27 11:43:50 GMT 2010
    
The Democratic Republic of Congo�s government is in �very advanced� talks 
with BHP Billiton Ltd. on the Inga 3 hydropower project, as the world�s 
biggest mining company seeks electricity for a possible aluminum smelter.
Congo formally invited offers to build the project on the Congo River yesterday, 
Energy Minister Gilbert Tshiongo Tshibinkubula wa Tumba said today in Kinshasa, 
the capital. BHP, studying development of a smelter in the country, is 
continuing talks with the government on both ventures, which are at an �early 
conceptual phase,� Rosheeka Amarasekara, a London-based spokeswoman for the 
company, said by telephone.

Inga 3 is part of the planned $22 billion Inga power complex, estimated to 
generate about 40,000 megawatts, almost twice the capacity of China�s Three 
Gorges dam. A previous proposal for the 5,000-megawatt Inga 3, estimated to cost 
$5.2 billion, was shelved when Western Power Corridor, a venture between five 
African countries, was dissolved.

�BHP could potentially support the development of Inga 3 by constructing an 
aluminum smelter in the Bas Congo province which could source power from the 
Inga 3 hydropower scheme,� Amarasekara said. The company can�t provide 
estimates on output or costs, she said.

BHP Smelter

BHP said in 2007 its plant could use about 2,000 megawatts of power from the 
proposed Inga 3 project and produce 800,000 metric tons of the metal a year.

�While waiting for the construction of Inga 3, Congo will face a deficit in 
2015 in the order of 858 megawatts as demand rises, notably the demand of 
miners,� the energy minister said today. The country wants Inga 3 to be 
operational by 2020, he said, adding that 3,500 megawatts to 4,200 megawatts 
will be �prioritized� for BHP�s smelter.

The nation needs $6.4 billion over the next five years to rehabilitate and build 
its electricity network. Congo is seeking $22 billion between 2015 and 2025 for 
Inga 3 and the Grand Inga dam, which would harness the power of the Congo River, 
the second-biggest by volume after the Amazon.

Congo�s rivers could produce more than 100,000 megawatts at 341 different 
sites, the minister said. Only 2.5 percent of their energy potential is 
currently being exploited. Congo has 2.463 megawatts of hydropower installed and 
1.382 is being used, he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael J. Kavanagh in Kinshasa at 
mkavanagh9 at bloomberg.net; Jesse Riseborough in London at 
jriseborough at bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at 
ajordan11 at bloomberg.net.


      
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