Rwanda: New Gas Power Project

Rwanda may start generating electricity from methane gas from Lake Kivu by June this year, a cabinet minister has said.

The Minister of Energy, Albert Butare said that the pilot electricity plant at Gisenyi will generate about 5 megawatts.

The 10 million Euros plant will initially supply electricity to the towns of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri in western and northern provinces of the country respectively.

“The full exploitation and utilisation of the gas in one of East Africa’s most endowed lakes, is to contribute to sustainable socio-economic development as the country moves into the critical stage of industrialisation,” Butare said.

The Prime Minister, Bernard Makuza who visited the plant on the shores of Lake Kivu recently, said that when fully implemented, the project will mitigate the energy shortage in the region.

“We strongly believe that methane gas from Lake Kivu will provide in the near future a sustainable solution to the energy challenges and cause development not only in Rwanda but also in the region” Makuza said.

It is estimated that this project has potential to generate some 700 megawatts of electricity when both the Gisenyi and Kibuye plants are fully operational.

Lake Kivu has been found to have about 55 billion cubic metres of dissolved methane gas at a depth of 300 metres.

The government has in the past invested in thermal energy by installing generators in various parts of the country as a temporary solution to the energy crisis but turned out to be costly due to rising price of diesel— with the country spending in excess of $1 million per month.

Experts have said that both Gisenyi and Kibuye methane projects once fully developed can generate more power than Rwanda can consume.