Ministers Responsible for Energy Affairs of the three member states that share the 80MW Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project (Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania) and who together compose the project’s Council of Ministers (CoM) visited the project on 20th August 2022 and expressed their satisfaction with the pace of construction. The visit was led by the Rwanda Minister of Infrastructure Hon. Dr. Eng. Ernest Nsabimana, accompanied by the Burundi Minister for Hydraulics, Energy and Mines Hon. Eng. Ibrahim Uwizeye and Tanzania Minister of Energy Hon. January Makamba. The CoM members were accompanied by the Rusumo Power Company (RPCL) board members, NELSAP-PIU, and the heads of the power utility companies of the three countries namely Tanzania’s TANESCO, REGIDESO of Burundi and REG-EUCL of Rwanda.
“We are supporting NELSAP-PIU, the project implementers, to ensure that the three countries start using power from the project in the first quarter of 2023,” said Hon. January Makamba, the incoming chair of the project CoM. He added that during his tenure, he will facilitate quick implementation of the remaining works to ensure the project is completed faster. The outgoing chair Hon. Dr. Eng. Ernest Nsabimana said, “We greatly appreciate the progress recorded so far and we are encouraging the implementors to increase pace of construction to ensure that the project in completed on time.”
The Burundi Minister Hon. Eng. Ibrahim Uwizeye on his part said that the three countries urgently needed electricity from Rusumo for their development and for the greater good of the life of their citizens.
“The overall project implementation status is at 95% with hydro mechanical (civil) works at 97% and electromechanical works at 92.5%,” the Rusumo Project Manager, Eng. Alloyce Oduor said as he guided the CoM members through the visit to various sites including the Power intake, and Switchyard which are on the Rwanda side. The ministerial delegation also visited the powerhouse, where the Project Manager explained that three penstock units are completely installed including back-filling and installation of cable trenches. He said that rails installation activities at transformer yard will be completed by October 2022 and installation of transformers and connection to substation take-off electrical equipment will end in November 2022. After the site visit, the ministers proceeded to hold their 14th Council of Ministers (CoM) meeting at the Rusumo Power Company (RPCL) residential campsite located in Tanzania, five kilometres from the Rusumo Border.
About the 80MW Regional Rusumo Project
NELSAP-PIU is implementing construction of the 80MW Regional Rusumo Hydroelectric Project on the Kagera river on behalf of the Governments of Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The World Bank has provided USD 340 million for construction of this run-of-the river hydropower project, including implementation of benefit sharing component, LADPs. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided USD 120 million for the Rusumo substation and Overhead Transmission Lines (OHTL) to evacuate power to the grids of the three countries.