21
May

Kigali, May 21, 2022 Construction of  Nyabarongo II hydropower plant officially kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony which took place on Saturday May 21,2022 at the project site located River Nyabarongo. 

The Nyabarongo II Hydropower Plant project is a public project to be developed by the Government of Rwanda across Nyabarongo River to generate an electric power of 43.5 MW. The generated power from this power plant will be evacuated using a 19.2km, 110kV single circuit Transmission line, and will be injected into the national grid via Rulindo substation.

Nyabarongo II Hydropower Plant project is the first phase of Nyabarongo II Multipurpose Development Project, which is designed to:

• Generate a total power of 134 MW (43.5MW of Nyabarongo II HP, 40MW of Butamwa Pump Storage Power Plant, 40MW of Juru (Bugesera) Pump Storage Power Plant, and 10.5 MW of Lake Sake Outlet HP), 
• Municipal water supply for Kigali and Bugesera urban areas, and 
• Controlling flood on marshland (18080 ha) along Nyabarongo and Akagera Rivers. 

The site of Nyabarongo II Hydropower Plant project will occupy 600ha of land  located in Rulindo, Gakenke, and Kamonyi Districts.  

Felix Gakuba, the Managing Director of Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL) says the project will be key in helping the country achieve its energy targets.

“We count on the project because it will boost power supply in the country, helping us reach our target of 2024 full coverage of electricity as we shall have increased our generation capacity,” he expressed.  

According to Dancille Nyirarugerero, the Governor of Northern Province, the project will raise the standards of living to the host population.

“Poverty can rarely cohabitate with access to electricity, once regions are provided with enough power, that allows people to create more developmental projects, eases the cost of doing business and improves the standards of living of the population because of increased access to reliable and affordable power,” she explained.

The large scale water conservation and hydropower development project will be undertaken by a Chinese construction company, Sinohydro, and it is the largest project currently supported by the Chinese Government in Rwanda.

Wang Jiaxin, Charge d'Affaires in the Chinese Embassy of Rwanda, recounts some of the issues that the project will eradicate.

“Every year, floods harm infrastructure and the livelihood of the local people and due to some topographic features, some people do not have access to electricity,” he said.

“So, from this project, we want to turn the flood-stricken lands to arable lands, and increase the incidence of electricity, so that more people will get access to electricity and facilitate livelihoods of the local people,” he said.