AFCC2/RI-Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project (Southern Africa Power Market Project: APL-1b)

closed

The development objectives of the Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project of the Congo are to improve operational efficiency in the electricity sector and expand generation, transmission and distribution capacity in order to better serve domestic power demand and to support regional power market integration. The Project will have five components: (a) rehabilitation of generation capacities at the Inga 1 and 2 power plants to provide power to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as to the Southern African Power Pool and to Central Africa, (b) construction of a transmission line from Inga to Kinshasa (also serving the Republic of Congo), (c) expansion and rehabilitation of the distribution network in Kinshasa, including powering of un-electrified areas and 50,000 new connections, (d) strengthening the capacities of SNEL (notably via a program to enhance governance, including the reduction of losses in commercial operations) and of the Ministry of Energy, and (e) support to execution of the Project, including on engineering and environmental/social aspects. The project will support the Southern African Power Market Program APL series, and notably complements Phase 1 which involves the rehabilitation of the transmission line from Inga to the border of the Republic of Zambia.