Rwanda aims to invest $930m to develop 310 MW geothermal capacity
Karisimbi, Rwanda (source: flickr/ uvioc, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
23 Mar 2011
The East African country of Rwanda aims to invest $930 million to develop 310 MW of geothermal power generation capacity to reach its ambitious electricity goals to fuel continuos economic growth in the country.
Reported by Reuters, the East African country of Rwanda is planning to spend some $930 million to develop 310 MW of geothermal power generation capacity. This investment is aimed to conquer the serious electricity shortage in the country.
With one of the fastest growing economies, the country faces a major energy challenge not being able to fuel electricity demand.
In a statement the Ministry of Energy says: “The geothermal sources have been identified between Gisenyi and Karisimbi Volcano and Bugarama. It will cost in total $30.2 million for drilling three exploration wells and doing the site preparation, which will include availing infrastructure on site.”
Located in the East African Rift Valley, a region with major geothermal potential reaching into Kenya and other countries, “only 14 percent of the country’s population currently have access to electricity.”
“The country had an installed capacity of only 69 MW in 2009, but plans to increase this to 130 MW by the end of 2012 through investments in small hydropower and methane gas plants.”
The Virunga volcanic zones in the north of the country and around some hot springs in the west are considered the most promising for geothermal potential. With ambitious goals of reaching 1,000 MW of electricity generation capacity by 2017, geothermal will play a crucial role in reaching this target. The company though also looks at other energy sources.
Currently only Kenya and Ethiopia are tapping the estimated 15,000 MW geothermal power potential in the East African Rift Valley.
Source: Reuters
