In 2023, Congo - Kinshasa consumed about 17.3 TWh of electricity, including 15.9 TWh of domestic low-carbon generation and 1.4 TWh of net imports. Hydropower supplied about 13.7 TWh and solar 2.2 TWh, making clean domestic generation roughly 92% of the total electricity supply. Imports provided the remaining 8%, but their low-carbon or fossil composition is not specified; no domestic fossil generation is listed. Electricity consumption was just 164 kWh per person, around 4% of the global average of 3,853 kWh—roughly one twenty-third as much. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, industrial activity and household living standards.

Is Electricity Growing in Congo - Kinshasa?

Electricity consumption per person is stagnating rather than setting new records. The 2023 figure of 164 kWh per person was slightly below the historic peak of 165 kWh reached in 1980. Low-carbon generation per person was also below its previous high: 150 kWh in 2023 compared with 163 kWh in 1989, a decline of about 8%. These comparisons do not establish whether total electricity consumption is growing, since population changes also matter, but they reveal a concerning failure to increase electricity availability per person over several decades. Faster clean electricity growth is needed to expand access and support electrification and future demand.

Suggestions

Congo - Kinshasa should expand its existing solar generation alongside its substantial hydropower base, supported by stronger transmission networks, local distribution and storage. Relevant lessons come from South Africa, which generated about 19 TWh of solar electricity, and India and Brazil, which produced roughly 223 TWh and 88 TWh respectively. Their experience offers examples to study for expanding solar deployment and attracting investment, while adapting projects to local conditions. South Africa also demonstrates a diversified clean electricity mix, with about 11 TWh each from wind and nuclear. Congo - Kinshasa should assess promising wind locations and consider nuclear as a longer-term source of dependable low-carbon electricity, drawing on South Africa’s operational experience and France’s much larger nuclear sector, which generated about 373 TWh.

History

The recorded history of low-carbon electricity in Congo - Kinshasa is dominated by hydropower. Selected gains in the late 1980s ranged from about 0.4 to 0.6 TWh a year, followed by an uneven 1990s: increases in 1992, 1995 and 1999 were interrupted by declines in 1991, 1993 and especially 1997, when output fell by 1.1 TWh. Growth resumed with gains of 0.7 TWh in 2000 and 0.9 TWh in 2004. The listed years from 2013 through 2020 brought further increases, including particularly strong additions of about 1.1 TWh in 2018 and 1.2 TWh in 2019. Solar then added 1 TWh in 2021 and another 1.1 TWh in 2022, a welcome diversification of clean generation. Hydropower also increased by 0.7 TWh in 2021 and 0.5 TWh in 2023, although the per-person figures show that greater expansion is still needed.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade