Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has welcomed the new off-grid energy that will soon be installed at an irrigation scheme in Kirehe District in the Eastern Province. The battery-powered 2.68 MW storage system will be supplied by German commercial system manufacturer Tesvolt, to facilitate a mega irrigation project in the district, according to online sources. The company will deliver the lithium storage system which will power water pumps in the agricultural project funded by the Howard G Buffet Foundation. Earlier last year, Buffett pledged $500 million (about Rwf345bn) toward support for agriculture initiatives in the country. The irrigation project targets over 1,200 hectares of land in the area and it is envisaged to give a major boost to the country’s quest to ensure food security. The support is aimed at transforming the sector’s productivity from subsistence to commercial farming through irrigation systems and skills development, among others. This was confirmed by Innocent Nzeyimana, the head of irrigation, mechanization and land husbandry department at Rwanda Agriculture Board. Nzeyimana said works to install the energy facility are underway and expected to be complete by September, adding that once this is operational, the off-grid energy will help in the irrigation project, boost yields, reduce the cost of production among other positive effects. He said, the Buffet project plans to use off grid energy to ease the strain on the national grid, and also, most importantly, the wish to use clean energy for the irrigation project. “The project uses off grid energy and this is a kind of hybrid system that is supplemented by the off grid, it is a very important project not only in agriculture but also in energy sector, renewable energy is new in Rwanda and something we encourage,” he said.
