23
Nov

Kigali, 23rd November, 2016- The Donor community in energy sector visited some of the on-going and completed projects to assess the progress and the operationalization of the completed projects. The donor community that conducted a site visit includes; GIZ-EnDeV, World Bank, EU, BTC, AGI, DFID, Power Africa together with teams from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Rwanda Energy Group Ltd. The team visited Nyakiramba Microhydro Power Plant project located in Jurwe Cell, Kibangu Sector, Muhanga District worth around 48 Million Rwandan Francs.  The Power Plant has been developed by a local company called Energy and Construction Systems (ECOS with the support of Energising Development (EnDev) Programme with a grant 70% of the total project cost.  The grant is disbursed on Results Based approach.  The plant’s installed capacity is 11 kilo watts (kW) and is expected to supply power to at least 258 customers including households and small businesses in the area.  Currently, 220 customers are already connected and the number is increasing.

The EnDev is a multi-donor partnership, currently financed and governed by the Governments of the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Sweden. It is a global programme that operates in 24 countries to promote sustainable access to modern energy services for households, social institutions and small to medium-sized enterprises in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2006, GIZ EnDev Rwanda started Private Sector Participation in Micro-hydro Power development (PSP Hydro) and between 2010 and 2013, Rwanda’s first privately build, operated and owned MHPs came on the grid with Murunda (96kW) in April 2010, Mazimeru (500kW) in May 2012 and Musarara (438kW) in February 2013.

Private Sector Participation in Micro-hydro Power development (PSP Hydro) for Rural Development; Results-Based Financing (RBF) for Renewable Energy – Solar Lighting and Village Grids are the initiatives to increase Energy Access Programme to connect many households in Rwanda supported by Development Partners.

The Government of Rwanda has recently approved a Rural Electrification Strategy to supply electricity to rural households and businesses that are far from the National Grid using off-grid solutions.  Among the programmes promoted by the Strategy is the development of Mini-Grids where feasible.  The mini-grids can be powered by either solar or hydropower systems.  The implementation of this programme is being supported by the Government, Development Partners and Private Sector.