Gas extraction which began three weeks ago on Lake Kivu in the Western province will highly supplement energy supplies in the country and increase economic activity. This was revealed by John Mirenge the Director General of the government parastatal charged with energy supply, Electrogaz.

Mirenge who was speaking to journalists from his office on Wednesday, said the government had fulfilled the long held desire by Rwanda to utilize the huge methane gas deposits on the bedrock of L. Kivu.

"For the first time in this country we have demystified the mystery of gas in Rwanda, before we only talked about it and did nothing about it,” he said, describing it as a dream-come-true.

The pilot project is currently producing 1.5 megawatts of electricity. Speaking earlier, the Minister of State for Energy, Albert Butare said gas production on Lake Kivu is likely to cause challenges.

"The only problem remaining is that since it will be the first time to exploit methane from underwater globally, it will take a bit of time to come up with appropriate technology,” he said, adding that the potential power output from the lake is 350 mw, he said.

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