Industrialists in Africa are pushing for the creation of a giant dam on the Congo River that would generate enough energy for the half-billion people on the continent without electricity. The huge project has been called "a Marshall Plan for Africa."
"Called Grand Inga, this giant dam will cost $80 billion to build and will have twice the installed generating capacity of the current record-holder, the Three Gorges Dam in China. Grand Inga would produce enough electricity to serve all of the more than 500 million Africans who currently go without."
"While it remains to be seen whether recent leaps in transmission technology are sufficient to carry electricity over Africa's vast distances and physical barriers like the blistering sands of the Sahara, power-hungry countries as far away as Egypt and Nigeria are interested in Grand Inga's potential supply."
"Grand Inga is one of a growing list of large dams under development or serious discussion in Africa, where private investors and development banks are re-examining the potential of 'big hydro' to help counter a worsening power shortage."
FULL STORY: Giant dam projects aim to transform African power supplies
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Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
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