Congo Wants 10,000 Megawatts. First It Has to Fix Its Power Company
A consultant's diagnostic of the state utility lands the same week Ankara offers to help build the solar. The post Congo Wants 10,000 Megawatts. First It Has to Fix Its Power Company appeared first on The Rio Times .
On 19 and 20 August, a team of consultants presented a diagnosis of Congo's state power company, Énergie Électrique du Congo (E2C), in Brazzaville. The goal is to transform the company into a robust electricity provider by 2040, beginning with a performance contract attached to a binding agreement. Currently, the country's rivers could theoretically generate 27,000 megawatts of hydropower, but only about 600 of the current 760 megawatts actually work.
The 2028 target of 3,000 megawatts, and the 2030 and 2040 targets of 5,000 and 10,000 megawatts respectively, are ambitious and may be difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, just 31.7% of Congolese have access to electricity, with only 1% in rural areas. The consultants recommended prepaid smart meters and network rehabilitation, particularly in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.
The plan also includes expanding the energy mix with solar photovoltaic, gas-fired generation, and small hydro. Congo has set ambitious access targets: 90% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas by 2030, with universal access by 2035. The country is part of the World Bank and African Development Bank's Mission 300 initiative, which aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
Turkish investments in Congo's sector suggest potential interest in expanding power generation, but no specific projects or figures have been discussed.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
