ACS withdraws from US$14 billion dam project

Spain-based contractor Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS) has reportedly left the US$14 billion Inga III hydroelectric mega-dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

ACS was responsible for the development of the 11,000MW dam along with Chinese companies led by China Three Gorges. However, according to Reuters, an ACS spokesperson has said that they will not participate in the execution of the project.

Tensions between the consortium members, chosen by the Congolese government to develop the Inga III project, were revealed in a report published in October 2019 by the NGO Resource Matters and the Congo Study Group.

The two consortiums were not able to agree on the construction and finance schedule for the project, or how shares in it would be divided. The consortium was to have provided all the finance for the scheme.

The project is part of Grand Inga, a series of dams designed to exploit up to 40,000MW of electricity from the Congo River. If successful, Inga III will become the largest hydropower plant in sub-Saharan Africa.