Kamoa Copper and its sister company, Ivanhoe Mines Energy, have extended the financing agreement with the State-owned power utility in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), La Société Nationale d' Électricité (SNEL), for the upgrade of a major turbine at the Inga II hydropower plant.
The renovation of Inga II's Turbine 5 will add an estimated 162 MW of hydropower generation capacity. Coupled with 78 MW of hydropower from the existing Mwadingusha plant, this will provide Kamoa with priority access to 240 MW of renewable electricity.
The finance agreement with SNEL was initially signed in connection with the joint restoration of the Mwadingusha hydropower project as part of the first public-private partnership, where five of the six turbines have already been refurbished.
The renovation is financed by Kamoa Holdings through a loan to SNEL, which will be repaid throughout the term of the loan by deductions from the electricity bills incurred.
Kamoa chairperson Ben Munanga says Kamoa is one of the world’s largest and greenest copper producers and the company intends to continue executing strategic plans to systematically transform Kamoa into a world-class copper producer.
Kamoa Copper and SNEL have begun a technical evaluation to determine the scope of work and estimate related expenses. This is being conducted together with Voith Hydro, a leading engineering group appointed as the contractor to lead the consortium of equipment manufacturers for the turbine upgrade.
Additionally, the terminal equipment on the Inga-Kolwezi transmission line will be upgraded to improve its transfer capacity by at least 200 MW.
SNEL CEO Jean-Bosco Kayombo Kayan is confident the Inga II project will be every bit as successful as the Mwadingusha hydroelectric power plant restoration.
“We are eager to have Turbine 5 at Inga II back in operation as soon as possible so that more people in the DRC will have access to electricity and so that the power needs of the Kakula mine can be met, both now and into the future.”
The Inga II hydropower plant is located on the Congo river in the southwest of the DRC.
Kamoa is jointly owned by TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining Group, with the DRC government and Crystal River Global being smaller shareholders.
The Kamoa-Kakula mine, which is being operated by the company, started producing copper concentrate on May 25.