KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of the Congo — On May 12 local time, construction officially commenced on the Kalonwe 220kV Overhead Transmission Line Relocation Project, undertaken by the DRC Project Department of China Railway Sixth Group’s Electrical Engineering Company.
The project is located south of the tailings storage facility within the Sicomines mining area in Kolwezi, Lualaba Province. Several towers of the existing 220kV transmission line are situated within the planned tailings storage area, creating operational risks and constraining both the expansion of the facility and the reliability of power supply to the mining operations.
Major works include the construction of concrete foundations, erection of steel tubular towers, installation and stringing of transmission conductors, as well as the dismantling of existing steel towers and the recovery of obsolete transmission lines.
Throughout construction, the project team will strictly implement safety, quality, and schedule management requirements, rigorously comply with safety protocols for work at height, transmission-line installation, and dismantling operations, and efficiently coordinate the commissioning of the new corridor and decommissioning of the existing line. The project is expected to comprehensively eliminate power transmission safety risks across the tailings storage area and ensure secure, reliable electricity supply for future mining operations.
