BHP Billiton, the Australian company that is one of the world’s largest mining companies, appears set to build a $3.5 billion hydroelectric plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo to power a $5 billion aluminum smelter.
Details of a presentation revealing plans to generate 2,500 megawatts from the Congo River were reported last week by Reuters.
“Even despite the global economic crisis, BHP Billiton always considered its aluminum smelter project in D.R.C. a priority,” the presentation stated, according to the news agency.
The project — called Inga X — is designed to replace a hydroelectric dam project proposed by a rival company, Western Power Corridor, or Westcor. That project aimed to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity for Congo, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Botswana.
But earlier this month, the Congolese government rejected the Westcor proposal, which involved drawing water from an existing reservoir created by two other World Bank funded dams.
Separate reports indicate that those hydro plants — called Inga 1 and Inga 2 — are generating 700 megawatts from a potential capacity of 1,700 megawatts. The World Bank has applied for a three-year extension of the those projects
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment