In recent months Günter Nooke, the Federal Chancellor’s Africa Commissioner, traveled to Leipzig to take part in a meeting to set up a working group on INGA 3 and hydrogen production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
INGA 3 is a planned hydropower plant in the DRC with a potential of 11,500 MW. The available electricity is thus well above the energy requirements of the entire region. This is precisely why funding has always failed so far. Smaller construction stages are much more expensive per MW. The environmental and social compatibility is also rated as very high for the larger project, but needs to be examined more closely.
Apparently, Günter Nooke was the first to come up with the idea of using the excess electricity to generate green hydrogen. This hydrogen could meet the demand in Europe at a very low price. At the same time Inga III will contribute to the industrialization of the DRC and the whole region.
The meeting was initiated by Dr. Gernot Wagner, former honorary consul of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and owner of evagor GmbH. Siemens, Linde, VN Gas, Deutsche Bank, other companies, representatives of SME associations, and the Congolese ambassador also took part.
DRC President Félix Tshisekedi is very interested in realizing such a project with international companies, especially German hydrogen companies. In terms of power generation, studies and preliminary work by the World Bank, European and Chinese companies can be built on. Nooke is planning a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to use the discussions offered there to further advance the project.
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