The City of Kigali has embarked on trials to power public lights with solar energy, The New Times has learnt. Merard Mpabwanamaguru, the Vice Mayor of the City of Kigali in charge of Urbanisation and Infrastructure, said that the city is in the 2nd phase of trials to make public lighting go solar. “Solar system with public lighting could be a sustainable solution if the trials are successful. We are in the second phase of trials. The solar public lighting was tried in the main, corridor and other roads,” he said. Mpabwanamaguru revealed that there are investors from Belarus to partner with them on this project, and another company from Poland that could help them with solar public trials. “If the trials are successful, it could set up an assembling factory in Rwanda,” he said. Meanwhile under the 2022/23 budget, about 70 Kilometres of roads are to be constructed and equipped with public lighting. Up to 58 road projects are set to be implemented in the neighbourhoods of Kigali City before 2024, according to the city council. Main targeted roads include Mulindi-Gasogi-Rusororo-Kabuga road of 9.8 Km, Miduha-Mageragere prison road with 8.6km, Nyabugogo-Poids Lourd-Kanogo road of 4.9 Km and Zindiro-Masizi-Birembo-Kami-Gasanze road (10.4Km) among others. Currently, there are five street lights on the road around Kigali Parents’ School that are being powered by solar energy. According to the city council, the capital will have a length of 215.6 kilometres of roads constructed or upgraded in six phases by 2024. Under phase one, some 33.7 km will be added to the current road network. Construction works shall involve asphalt and cobblestone road construction, rehabilitation of roads across the capital, upgrading from two to four lanes, repairing and renovating them, among other activities. The first construction phase has 10 road projects, while the second one has 13. The third one has 14 road projects; the fourth has only 6 as the fifth and sixth have 10 and 5 road projects respectively. Due to the nature of the construction process, 2009 households will be relocated to pave way for construction activities. Why solar public lighting? While commenting on 2022/23 budget, MP Frank Habineza tasked the City of Kigali to explain the status of green investment in the capital so as to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “Public lighting should be powered by solar energy as it has been possible in other countries. Most of the roads being constructed have no cycle lanes yet it is part of no-motorised transport to reduce carbon emissions,” he said. According to different studies, solar public lighting is more cost-effective than grid-connected lighting. They also show that solar public lighting is easy to install and doesn’t require any civil engineering work, because it’s completely off-grid. It’s ideal for remote, hard-to-reach locations, as well as flood-prone areas. Rwanda seeks to reduce carbon emissions by 38 percent in 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. According to experts, solar public lighting could contribute to achieving the country’s target. From electricity consumption to maintenance, public lighting expenditure accounts for substantial budgets and makes up a sizeable share of public spending in energy, up to 60% according to several studies conducted by the World Bank and the EU. Solar street lights, whose batteries get their power from photovoltaic panels, provide a major competitive advantage as they operate completely independently from the grid, thus eliminating all electricity bills.
