The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment for Rwanda Mr. Patrick Karera has said that the soon to be completed 80MW Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project will boost Rwanda’s efforts to attain self-sufficiency.
“Rwanda has an ambitious target of attaining 100% energy access within the next two years and the 80MW Rusumo project, will complement in realizing country’s power targets and so we are happy that this project is coming to a close,” Mr. Karera (PS) said. The PS said these while addressing Permanent Secretaries of nine Nile River basin countries who were visiting the Rusumo project for an experiential learning tour.
The Environment Permanent Secretary noted that Energy security is a priority to all Nile basin member states and that Rwanda was doing its best to attain energy. He added that the 80MW Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project that is shared between Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania is one of Rwanda’s valued energy projects that is being looked upon by the government to contribute to and complement the country’s efforts towards realization of its energy goals.
The Permanent Secretary commended NELSAP-CU and the development partners, particularly the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for picking up the project and working on it diligently in a relatively short implementation period despite its multidimensional and transboundary nature. He added that overall, the project will contribute to Rwanda’s socio-economic development, industrialization, support reversal of environmental degradation through uptake of clean renewable energy and improve living conditions of the people.
By May 2023 overall project completion had reached 99.5%. Civil works were 99.7 complete while electromechanical works were 99.2% complete.
The World Bank is financing construction of the Rusumo power plant to the tune of USD 340 million while the AfDB has provided USD 120 million for the Rusumo substation and Overhead Transmission Lines (OHTL) that will evacuate power and interconnect the grids of the three nations.
