China’s Sinohydro in Talks to Build $300 Million Dam in Congo

By Franz Wild

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Sinohydro Corp., China’s largest dam-builder, is in talks to build a hydroelectric plant worth about $300 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Wu Zexian, China’s ambassador to the country.

Sinohydro, a state-owned company which built China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest power plant, is “in advanced discussions” with Congolese authorities to build the Zongo 2 plant in the western Bas-Congo province, Wu said in a Sept. 18 interview in the capital, Kinshasa.

“The problem is the financing,” Wu said. “That’s what the talks are focusing on now.”

Congo, where 6 percent of the population have electricity supplied to their home, hasn’t made a decision on who it will appoint as a partner to develop the $5-billion Inga 3 hydropower plant on the Congo River, the world’s second-largest by volume after the Amazon.

Sinohydro is part of a group of Chinese companies that are investing $9 billion in infrastructure and mining in Congo in exchange for mineral rights. The Zongo plans aren’t part of the same deal, Wu said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Kinshasa at fwild@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 21, 2009 04:13 EDT