3rd assignment: ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN RWANDA
Electricity Generation The available electricity generation capacity in Rwanda by January 2010 is at 258.12 GWh. (Domestic generation is 205.92 GWh and imported electricity is 52.2 GWh). Type of electricity Domestic hydropower Imported hydropower Thermal power Methane to power Solar power TOTAL
Capacity (GW/h) 86.22 52.2 114.48 4.32 0.9 258.12
Electrical power supply of Rwanda Methane to power 2%
Solar power 0%
Thermal power 44%
Domestic hydropower 34%
Imported hydropower 20%
Fraction of renewables Domestic hydropower 1% Imported hydropower 37%
Solar power 62%
Renewable energy The main source of renewable energy used to generate electricity in Rwanda is Hydropower. The reason of that is that Rwanda has numerous waterfalls where power stations can be built and electricity produced at a relatively affordable price. The Northern Line of the power system in Rwanda has, as its axis, the MUKUNGWA and NTARUKA Hydro Stations in the hills of the Northern Province. With a production of normally 82.8 GWh, these two plants provide nearly half of Rwanda’s power. There are also a number of independent micro-hydroelectric stations (GISENYI (0 GWh), GIHIRA (2.52 GWh). To make up for the shortfall and to cover its minimal energy needs of about 162 GWh, the country depends on two additional hydropower plants which were constructed on the Rusizi River, which runs along the border with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The RUSIZI I plant (100.8 GWh) is run by the Société Nationale d’Électricité (SNEL), a Congolese government-owned utility that contracted to deliver power to Rwanda at a preferential price. It provides to Rwanda about 12.6 GWh. The RUSIZI II hydropower station (104.4 GWh) is operated by Société Internationale d’Electricité des Pays de Grands Lacs (SINELAC), a joint venture of RECO-RWASCO, Rwanda’s state-owned electricity supplier, Burundi’s Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso) and SNEL. Power generated by Rusizi II was originally supposed to be shared by Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, reduction in consumption and the non-payment due to the insecurity in the other two countries have allowed Rwanda to receive 55% (36 GWh), Burundi 15% and the Congo 30%. (LAHMEYER INTERNATIONAL, May 2004). Hydro-electricity constitutes Rwanda’s biggest renewable energy potential. The country has a total hydroelectric potential of approximately 360 GWh. (RECIPES, September 2006). Since most of the electricity produced is generated through hydropower, the highly variable climate in central Africa and man-made disturbances of the hydrological cycle expose the power systems to great fluctuation. Although there is also a lack of investment in Rwanda (no new generating plant has been constructed since 1982). Since 2004, low lake-water levels due to highly variable rainfall and higher evapotranspiration due to deforestation have led to the poor performance of the country’s most important hydroelectric plants, Ntaruka and Mukungwa. That problem, combined with strong growth of demand (average GDP rate of 8% a year since 1995), is exacerbated by high technical losses and the unreliability of the dilapidated grid. The current energy deficit is estimated at 108 GWh. (Doevenspeck, 2007).