3 ms·

Africa's gigantic $80B dam could transform entire continent

24 points by prmph 1y ago

whycome 1y ago
I tried to read, but that has to be the most user hostile site I’ve ever encountered. Ads and taking me unexpectedly to try to download apps. Wtf
- prmph 1y ago
  Sorry, you could use reader view mode, or try this similar (older) story: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/28/business/biggest-hydropower-grand-inga-congo https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/28/business/biggest-hydropow...
  - tomhow 1y ago
    Since you also posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233, which includes discussion of the Grand Inga Dam but also the broader issue of big dams, and because we need to avoid repetition/overlap in front-page stories, I'll bury this submission and leave the other one up.
    - prmph 1y ago
      Alright
- shawnlower2 1y ago
  It's honestly impressive. https://imgur.com/a/mBoCqt7 https://imgur.com/a/mBoCqt7 The article can be seen on the bottom left...
astar1 1y ago
>To put it in perspective, it will have a generating capacity far greater than that of the Three Gorges dams in China and Itaipu in Brazil. With a projected capacity to produce 40.000 megawatts of power, the Grand Inga Dam is more than just an ambitious megaproject. Am I missing something here? Three Gorges damn has capacity of 80, the new Tibet dam that China already started building has a capacity 300 megawatts https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/21/china-starts-building-world-biggest-hydropower-dam-yarlung-tsangpo-river-tibet https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/21/china-starts-b...
- TylerE 1y ago
  Your numbers are wrong. Three Gorges is 22.5GW, not 80.
- Sayrus 1y ago
  The source for that number states 22.5 gigawatts capacity. 88.2 is the annual production in TWh. (Or 98TWh according to Wikipedia)
- ethan_smith 1y ago
  Three Gorges Dam's capacity is actually 22,500 MW (not 80), and the Yarlung Tsangpo project in Tibet is estimated at 60,000 MW (not 300), making Grand Inga's proposed 40,000 MW capacity indeed significant but not the largest.
andsoitis 1y ago
Story by BBC in January: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62jmq0z89jo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62jmq0z89jo
tomhow 1y ago
See also: In a major reversal, the world bank is backing mega dams (2024) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233
Proofread0592 1y ago
Is the CCP funding this? Saw no mention in the article of what government is footing the bill, is the DRC really paying $80B for this? Thats higher than their entire GDP of $66.8B.
victorbjorklund 1y ago
It's cool but hardly solving the structural issues many econonies there struggle with.

24 points by prmph 1y ago

I tried to read, but that has to be the most user hostile site I’ve ever encountered. Ads and taking me unexpectedly to try to download apps. Wtf

prmph 1y ago
Sorry, you could use reader view mode, or try this similar (older) story: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/28/business/biggest-hydropower-grand-inga-congo https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/28/business/biggest-hydropow...
- tomhow 1y ago
  Since you also posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233, which includes discussion of the Grand Inga Dam but also the broader issue of big dams, and because we need to avoid repetition/overlap in front-page stories, I'll bury this submission and leave the other one up.
  - prmph 1y ago
    Alright
shawnlower2 1y ago
It's honestly impressive. https://imgur.com/a/mBoCqt7 https://imgur.com/a/mBoCqt7 The article can be seen on the bottom left...

astar1 1y ago

>To put it in perspective, it will have a generating capacity far greater than that of the Three Gorges dams in China and Itaipu in Brazil. With a projected capacity to produce 40.000 megawatts of power, the Grand Inga Dam is more than just an ambitious megaproject. Am I missing something here? Three Gorges damn has capacity of 80, the new Tibet dam that China already started building has a capacity 300 megawatts https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/21/china-starts-building-world-biggest-hydropower-dam-yarlung-tsangpo-river-tibet https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/21/china-starts-b...

TylerE 1y ago
Your numbers are wrong. Three Gorges is 22.5GW, not 80.
Sayrus 1y ago
The source for that number states 22.5 gigawatts capacity. 88.2 is the annual production in TWh. (Or 98TWh according to Wikipedia)
ethan_smith 1y ago
Three Gorges Dam's capacity is actually 22,500 MW (not 80), and the Yarlung Tsangpo project in Tibet is estimated at 60,000 MW (not 300), making Grand Inga's proposed 40,000 MW capacity indeed significant but not the largest.

andsoitis 1y ago

Story by BBC in January: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62jmq0z89jo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62jmq0z89jo

tomhow 1y ago

See also: In a major reversal, the world bank is backing mega dams (2024) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44640233

Proofread0592 1y ago

Is the CCP funding this? Saw no mention in the article of what government is footing the bill, is the DRC really paying $80B for this? Thats higher than their entire GDP of $66.8B.

victorbjorklund 1y ago

It's cool but hardly solving the structural issues many econonies there struggle with.