China signs $838 million hydro junction contract with Sudan

The Sudanese government has officially issued the approval letter for the Upper Atbara Hydro Junction Project's construction and its water facilities to the joint venture of China International Water & Electric Corporation and its parent company, the China Three Gorges Corporation, with the total contract worth 838 million U.S. dollars, the China Three Gorges Corporation announced on April 7.

The Upper Atbara Hydro Junction Project will obtain financial support from the Sudanese government and the total time of construction will be five years and four months. Currently, it is the largest single construction project any Chinese company has undertaken in Sudan and also the second largest overseas single hydraulic engineering project signed by a Chinese company.

The signing of the contract agreement marks that China Three Gorges Corporation has successfully pushed through its strategy of going global and has carried out its internationalized operating strategy.

The project is located at the border area between Kassala State and Gedaref State in eastern Sudan, 460 kilometers away from Khartoum Road. In addition, the project consists of the Rumira Dam, Bodana Dam, as well as other ancillary works. The project is aimed at providing irrigation and water supply as well as power generation.

The joint venture will build a reservoir with a storage capacity of around 3 billion cubic meters and an irrigation area of 500,000 hectares. Moreover, the reservoir will provide 7 million people with irrigation water, 3 million people with drinking water and millions more with electricity, which will benefit at least one-third of Sudan's population.

A grand signing ceremony was held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on April 6 in the presence of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Moreover, the director of the Dams Executive Bureau directly under the Sudanese President signed the contract with China Three Gorges Corporation Deputy General Manager Lin Chuxue, and the General Manger of China International Water & Electric Corporation Lu Guojun.

By People's Daily Online