Published: September 20, 2016 |

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Ivanhoe Mines has begun supplying an initial 11 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the Mwadingusha hydropower plant for the Komoa Copper Project.

The ongoing upgrading work — part of a program planned to eventually overhaul and boost output from a total of three hydropower plants — is being conducted by Ivanhoe Mines and its joint-venture partner, Zijin Mining Group, in conjunction with the DRC’s state-owned power company, La Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL).

At Mwadingusha, electricity now is being produced by the No. 1 turbine generator, the first of six installed at the dam’s power plant that are being upgraded and modernized. It is the first step in a program based on an initial 2011 memorandum of understanding, and subsequent 2014 agreement, between Ivanhoe and SNEL.

The Mwadingusha plant originally was commissioned in 1930. Completion of the full upgrading and modernization of Mwadingusha’s five other generating units that now is underway is expected to restore Mwadingusha to its installed output capacity of approximately 71 MW of power for the national grid. The upgrading work is being undertaken by a partnership between SNEL and Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC, a subsidiary of Kamoa Holding Limited.

A dependable power supply is essential to planned production at Kamoa.

“This first installation of modern power generating equipment at Mwadingusha is an important milestone in helping to secure long-term, sustainable and clean electricity for the Congolese people and for the development of our major, new copper mine at Kamoa,” said Robert Friedland, executive chairman of Ivanhoe Mines.

“Mining and the supply of reliable energy are inseparable and we are committed to implementing energy-efficiency measures and supporting cost-effective ways of generating clean energy. Hydropower, with the virtues of being clean and renewable, is among the best energy solutions for our industry living with the realities of climate change,” added Friedland.

Mwadingusha will help to address the DRC’s electricity-supply deficit. “Today, thanks to the private-public partnership supported by the DRC government, Ivanhoe Mines and SNEL have added additional megawatts to the national electricity grid. I urge SNEL to make sure that these additional megawatts are distributed in an appropriate manner to the targeted end users,” said Jean-Claude Kazembe Musonda, governor of Haut-Katanga Province.

Minister Samsoni also complimented Ivanhoe, suggesting its initiative could be a model for other businesses. “The provincial government will continue to support Ivanhoe Mines in the work it is doing with SNEL to successfully implement all the other projects it has in the DRC. Ivanhoe must be supported in its effort and used as an example for other companies to join in partnering with SNEL to solve the existing electricity problem in the DRC,” said Willy Kitobo Samsoni, minister of mines for Haut-Katanga.

Ivanhoe Mines can count on the support of the ministry to continue to address the deficit in electricity in the DRC. “We are very pleased with the private-public partnership between SNEL and Ivanhoe Mines. The electricity sector here has been privatized and it opens the door for other investors and companies to produce, transport and sell electricity in the DRC,” said Matadi Managa Gamanda, minister of hydraulic resources and energy for DRC.

MWADINGUSHA

Mwadingusha is the first of three hydropower plants that Ivanhoe and Zijin plan to upgrade to secure a supply of clean, sustainable electricity for the Kamoa and Kakula copper discoveries in DRC’s Lualaba province.

Upgrading of the other two existing hydroelectric power plants - Koni and Nzilo 1 - is expected to begin once upgrading work at Mwadingusha is completed.

The Mwadingusha and Koni plants are in cascade, with Koni directly downstream from Mwadingusha on the Lufira River at the mouth of Lake Tshangalele, north of Likasi and approximately 250 kilometers northeast of Kamoa. The Nzilo 1 plant, commissioned in 1952, is on the Lualaba River, downstream of Nzilo Lake and north of the city of Kolwezi, approximately 40 kilometers from the Kamoa mine development site.

The three plants, once fully reconditioned, could produce a combined 200 MW of long-term, electricity for the grid, which is expected to be more than sufficient to launch copper production at Kamoa.

Construction of a 20-kilometer-long, 120-kV transmission line to supply construction power to the Kamoa site from the Kolwezi-Kisenge line, where it crosses the northern boundary of the Kamoa mining license, was completed in late August. In addition, a local company is constructing eight kilometers of 11-kV overhead power lines, cabling reticulation and five mini-substations for distributing 11-kV of electricity to the Kamoa mine development declines at Kansoko Sud, camps, offices and de-watering boreholes.

Power from the national grid is expected to be available to the Kamoa site in October 2016 after the final testing and commissioning of the 120-kV and 11-kV overhead powerlines and electrical substations at Kamoa.

About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is advancing its three principal projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mine development at the Platreef platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper discovery on the Northern Limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex; mine development and exploration at the Kamoa Copper Project — which includes the remarkable Kakula high-grade copper discovery — on the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC; and upgrading and exploration at the historic, high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine, also on the DRC’s Copperbelt.

To stop by Ivanhoe Mines’ website, CLICK HERE

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