Zongo II – A Model to Follow?

The Zongo II power plant was built on the Inkisi River in Kongo Central Province, about 130 km from Kinshasa, near another plant — Zongo I — with the aim of supplying electricity to Kinshasa and parts of Kongo Central.

The Kitsisa Khonde Center for Studies and Research on Renewable Energies (CERERK ISTA/Kinshasa) examined the various stages of the site’s development process as well as the three levels of management: institutional, technical, and financial.

On May 15, 2009, the DRC and the Chinese company Sinohydro signed a contract for the construction of the Zongo II dam. Two years later, another agreement followed — a concessional loan contract with China’s Exim Bank for $360 million in financing.

The research identified several major flaws in the project’s planning and execution. The contract appears not to have accounted for the complexity of the work or for certain standards in hydropower plant construction. At the institutional and financial level, the involvement of numerous actors complicated matters, leading quickly to contract amendments that increased the financing needs.

These budget overruns were officially cited as the reason why several facilities were never built despite the dam’s formal inauguration. The high-voltage line to carry power from the dam to Kinshasa was never constructed. Neither were the interconnection works with Zongo I.

Today, despite hundreds of millions invested, a debt to be repaid by future generations, and an inauguration with much fanfare, the Zongo II dam is essentially useless — the infrastructure needed for interconnection and energy transmission simply does not exist. There are fears the facility will fall into disuse.

CERERK therefore recommends that both political and technical authorities allocate the resources needed to complete the outstanding works so that the Congolese population in general, and Kinshasa residents in particular, can finally benefit from the electricity the plant produces.

About the Mwangaza Project

The DRC is facing a major energy crisis despite its enormous potential. In an effort to expand public access to electricity, the Mwangaza Project seeks to analyze the operation of a number of hydropower plants across the country and to propose solutions for better electrification.

It is in this context that the Kitsisa Khonde Center for Studies and Research on Renewable Energies (CERERK) of the Higher Institute of Applied Techniques (ISTA) in Kinshasa decided to carry out a study on the new Zongo II hydropower plant.

— CERERK