Rusumo falls power project on track

It will supplement the recently launched 20 megawatts Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) plant at Jabana and the planned Nyabarongo power plant that will generate 27 megawatts. Feasibility studies that will pave way for the constriction of the proposed Rusumo dam and power plant will be ready by March 2010, an expert has said. The power project that will generate 60 megawatts of hydroelectricity is planned at the Rusumo falls where the Kagera River forms the boundary between Tanzania and Rwanda. Three transmission lines are planned from Rusumo to Gitega in Burundi, Kigali to Kabarondo, and Biharamuro in Tanzania. Isah Nabide, Project Manager of Akagera Transboundary Integrated Water Resource Management and Development projects said the project is on course despite some minor delays. Nabide is in charge of all projects around Kagera waters Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda are stakeholders in this multi-million dollar project that serves to address the power shortage in East African. Other studies which include environmental impact assessment and social economic assessment are also being conducted. “The multi-purpose project will enormously improve on environment because most of the cooking is done by firewood which negatively affects the environment,” Nabide said. The Rusumo power project will increase Rwanda’s hydroelectric power consumption which currently stands at 60 percent of the total power produced in the country. It will also supplement the recently launched 20 megawatts Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) plant at Jabana and the planned Nyabarongo power plant that will generate 27 megawatts. The projects are expected to bring power production in the country from 67 megawatts to 252.7 megawatts by 2015. Government also intends to move from the current power connectivity of six percent to 16 percent by 2012 through the utilization of different initiatives like Solar, wind and methane gas. Ends