Rwanda is exploring the potential to establish a solar power plant with a capacity of 30 megawatts (MW), according to Jimmy Gasore, the Minister of Infrastructure.

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Currently, the country’s largest solar power plant located in Rwamagana District, Eastern Province, produces 8.5 MW. Meanwhile, a 5.1 MW solar plant is under development to supply power to BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine facility in Kigali. Rwanda’s overall electricity generation capacity currently stands at 406.4 MW.

This needs to increase to 556 MW within the next five years.

While the total potential capacity of the country’s energy sources is estimated at 650–700 MW, the objectives outlined in Vision 2050 can only be achieved if the growth in installed capacity reaches between 2.5 and 4.5 GW, depending on future projections.

Rwanda possesses solar energy potential in various areas of the country.

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The Ministry of Infrastructure has noted that "the current and planned on-grid solar capacity represents only a small fraction of total generation, and there is scope for increasing its contribution.”

As of the 2023/24 fiscal year, Rwanda’s solar power generation stood at 12 MW.

"To increase installed electricity capacity, in the 2024/25 fiscal year we will continue construction of the Nyabarongo hydropower plant. We also aim to initiate a project for 30 MW of solar energy,” said Gasore.

Asked where the 30 MW solar power plant might be located and the rationale behind the location, Gasore told The New Times: "We are conducting the required studies, which will provide that information.”

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Rwf100bn investment required

Rwanda plans to invest Rwf100 billion in the development of solar power, aiming to generate 30 MW by the 2029/30 fiscal year and an additional 20 MW by 2034/35, according to a new energy policy released in February.

Claudette Nyirabaributsa, a resident of Kayonza District, said that "If solar power is scaled up, it could affect people in remote rural areas without electricity.”

She cited the example of Cyamburara Primary School, which had operated without electricity since its establishment in 2003 in Kayonza.

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The school recently received solar panels.

"The benefits of solar power went beyond that school. We used to spend a lot of money travelling to urban centres to charge our phones. Now, with solar panels at the school, we can charge them there, saving both time and money,” she noted.

Innocent Hakizimana, an electrical engineer, highlighted the solar potential of the Eastern and Southern Provinces.

"We need long-storage solar systems for remote areas where the national grid has not yet reached,” he noted.

Given its location near the Equator, Rwanda has considerable solar energy potential in parts of the country. However, current solar capacity remains limited, the policy states. The ministry has outlined several actions required to implement the new energy policy.

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These include supporting hybrid solar and storage technologies to manage intermittency, offering incentives to promote local production and the use of efficient solar systems, developing and reviewing standards for solar technologies and equipment, and providing a regulatory framework for connecting solar-generated electricity to both national and isolated grids—either through direct sale or net metering.

It also requires attracting investment in solar energy systems to reduce reliance on imports.

Rwanda wants renewable energy to account for 60 per cent of the country’s total energy generation by 2030.