$300 Million Zambia–DRC Power Link Moves Forward as Investors Target Copperbelt Electricity Shortages

A proposed $300 million electricity interconnector between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has moved forward after the project’s partners signed a strategic framework agreement to jointly finance, build and operate the cross-border transmission line.

The Kalumbila–Kolwezi Interconnector Project will run approximately 200 kilometres from Kalumbila in Zambia to Kolwezi in the DRC, linking the Congolese Copperbelt more strongly to the Southern African Power Pool.

The line is designed with a thermal capacity of 700 MW and is expected to enable imports of up to 550 MW into the DRC’s mining region. Its design also allows for a future increase beyond 1 GW.

Power infrastructure meets mineral industrialisation

The significance of the project extends beyond electricity trade. The Copperbelt sits at the centre of global demand for copper and cobalt, minerals that are critical to power networks, electric vehicles and energy technologies. Yet electricity shortages remain a constraint on mining operations and on ambitions to process more minerals locally.

A larger and more reliable power supply could therefore support both existing mining operations and additional industrial capacity in the DRC, while creating a new export route for licensed Zambian electricity producers.

The project is also an example of the infrastructure required if African countries are to move from mineral extraction toward more energy-intensive processing and value addition. Smelters, refineries and manufacturing facilities require dependable electricity at scale; mineral policy and power infrastructure are increasingly inseparable.

A private cross-border transmission model

The agreement brings together the DRC’s Strategic Investment Fund, FIS-RDC; project developer EnPower; infrastructure investor Gridworks; and commodities group Trafigura.

Gridworks has confirmed its intention to become lead equity investor and majority shareholder. FIS-RDC and EnPower also intend to invest equity, while discussions are under way with Zambian entities about potential participation. Trafigura is arranging debt financing.

According to the project partners, the development has secured the required concessions, licences and authorisations and is in the final stage of development. The estimated construction cost is $300 million.

Those milestones are important, but they should not be confused with financial close. The framework agreement establishes the parties’ intended roles and financing structure as the project advances toward construction.

Regional grids as economic infrastructure

The Southern African Power Pool was created to allow participating electricity systems to trade power across borders, but its economic value ultimately depends on physical transmission capacity. Interconnectors determine whether surplus generation in one market can reach shortages in another.

For Zambia, the project could widen the market available to power producers. For the DRC, it could provide an additional route for electricity into one of the continent’s most strategically important mining corridors.

If financing closes and construction proceeds, the Kalumbila–Kolwezi line would demonstrate how privately financed cross-border transmission can support regional integration, energy security and industrial investment simultaneously.

Sources

• Trafigura: Strategic framework agreement for the Kalumbila–Kolwezi Interconnector
• Gridworks: Lead equity investor announcement