• Kamoa-Kakula’s total electricity demand will rise to 347 MW by December 2028, up from 208 MW in 2025.
• Inga II’s rehabilitated turbine is already supplying up to 50 MW and should reach 150 MW by 2027.
• Kamoa Copper plans to secure over 210 MW from SNEL, 100 MW in imports and 60 MW in solar capacity, ensuring surplus clean energy.

The Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo will sharply increase its electricity needs over the next three years. Ivanhoe Mines projected in a November 25 statement that total demand will reach 347 MW in December 2028, compared with 208 MW in December 2025.

Ivanhoe Mines derived the estimates from an internal projection table included in the announcement on the commissioning of Inga II turbine No. 5, rehabilitated by SOciété nationale d’électricité (SNEL) with Kamoa Copper’s support. These projections differ from estimates Ivanhoe Mines published in April.

Kamoa Copper began receiving an initial 50 MW from Inga II on November 10. The company expects this supply to increase to 100 MW in Q1 2026, then to about 150 MW in 2027, as SNEL optimizes the Inga–Kolwezi transmission network.

The 450 million rehabilitation program should raise SNEL’s contribution to 210 MW by end-2027. Kamoa Copper plans to maintain 100 MW of imported power and add 60 MW from two on-site solar power projects. The company stated that this mix will give it more clean energy capacity than it needs, reinforcing its position as one of the copper industry’s lowest greenhouse-gas emitters.

Production Constraints and Energy Scenario

Ivanhoe Mines did not detail the technical assumptions behind the projections. However, the figures suggest the mine will not reach its high-production scenario before 2028. That scenario requires power demand above 300 MW, the simultaneous operation of three concentrators, the full ramp-up of the electric smelter, and the metallurgical optimization of Project 95, enabling annual output of 550,000–600,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.

Smelter Commissioning

The Kamoa-Kakula electric smelter, commissioned on November 21 after multiple delays, is unlikely to operate at its 500,000-tonne annual capacity before 2028.

Kamoa Copper withdrew its short-term production and smelter ramp-up guidance following seismic activity at the Kakula underground mine. The company now expects 2025 production of 370,000–420,000 tonnes, well below the prior range of 520,000–580,000 tonnes. It has yet to release updated guidance for subsequent years or a new schedule for the smelter’s full ramp-up.

The commissioning of what Kamoa Copper describes as Africa’s largest and most modern smelter marks a strategic turning point for the DRC. The facility shifts the country from exporting copper concentrate to exporting refined copper, increasing local value creation, expanding fiscal revenues, supporting industrial development and strengthening the DRC’s role in the global copper supply chain.

Pierre Mukoko (Bankable)