Chinese firm eyes Sudan power projects as war devastates electricity grid

August 17, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – China’s Hunan Construction and Engineering Group has expressed interest in developing electricity projects in Sudan, where the power sector has suffered an estimated $3 billion in damage since war erupted in 2023, the energy ministry said on Monday.

Energy Minister Mutasim Ibrahim Ahmed met with a delegation from the Chinese firm to discuss planned joint ventures with Sudan’s National Energy and Engineering Company.

The proposed projects include the 200-megawatt Jomi’iya plant and the 300-megawatt Garri (3) facility, both planned as hybrid thermal-solar installations, the ministry said in a statement.

Sudan’s electricity network has suffered widespread collapses, fires and fuel shortages amid the ongoing conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), leading to chronic blackouts during peak summer heat.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, damage to the power grid from war totals around $3 billion. National grid officials previously estimated that 150,000 kilometres of transmission lines were damaged during fighting in the capital, Khartoum.

Khartoum is increasingly seeking Chinese investment and technical support to rehabilitate critical energy and utility infrastructure destroyed during the conflict.