By John Reed

The Inga hydroelectric plant stands at a scenic bend in the Congo River where it comes rushing toward the sea from Kinshasa and the African interior. Officials from Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel), the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national utility and operator of Inga, like to take visitors to the Belvedere, a picture-windowed viewpoint and presentation room furnished with a semicircle of worn cinema-style seats. The Congo drops 102 metres for about 15 km as it rushes toward Inga. As such, it could generate 39,000 MW of hydropower potential – twice that of China’s Three Gorges Dam. The river straddles the Equator as it passes through the DRC, ensuring a reliable flow of water for Inga from either the south or the north as the rainy season shifts.