Grand Inga Dam

Grand Inga Dam
Location of the Grand Inga Dam (lower centre), along with other Inga Dams.
Location of the Grand Inga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Country	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Location	Inga
Coordinates	05°32′45″S 13°33′25″E / 5.54583°S 13.55694°E / -5.54583; 13.55694Coordinates: 05°32′45″S 13°33′25″E / 5.54583°S 13.55694°E / -5.54583; 13.55694
Status	Proposed
Opening date	2020-2025 (expected)
Construction cost	US$80 billion
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Congo River
Height	205 m (673 ft)
Power station
Turbines	52 × 750 MW (1,010,000 hp)
Installed capacity	39,000 MW (52,000,000 hp) (proposed)

The Grand Inga Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Congo River at Inga Falls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The proposed dam is the fourth and largest of the Inga dams, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Inga-I, 7.3 kilometres (4.5 mi) from Inga-II, and 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) from the proposed Inga-III.

The dam has an expected generating capacity of 39,000 MW (52,000,000 hp), with 52 turbines each with a capacity of 750 MW (1,010,000 hp). This is a significantly larger capacity than the Three Gorges Dam, which is currently known as the largest energy-generating body ever built.

Inga Falls on the Congo River is a group of rapids (or cataracts) in the latter portion of the Livingstone Falls. The Congo falls ~96 metres (315 ft) within this set of cataracts. The mean annual flow rate of the Congo River at Inga Falls is ~42,000 cubic metres per second (1,500,000 cu ft/s). Given this flow rate and the 96 metre fall it is easy to calculate that the Inga Falls alone has a potential to generate ~39.6 gigawatts (53,100,000 hp) of mechanical energy and nearly as much electrical energy.

Inga Falls is currently the site of two large hydro power plants and is being considered for a much larger hydro power generating station known as Grand Inga. The Grand Inga project, if completed, would be the largest hydro-electric power generating facility on Earth. The current project scope calls for the use of a flow rate ~26,400 cubic metres per second at a net head of ~150 metres; this is equivalent to a generating capacity of ~38.9 GW. This hydro-electric generator would be more than double the current world record holder, which is the Three Gorges facility on the Yangtze River in China.