Dec 20 2010
The Rwandian State Minister in Charge of Energy and Water, Coletha Ruhamya, while addressing a regional geothermal training workshop on harmonization and policy development in Kigali, stated that geothermal energy has become the number one priority for Rwanda as it would decrease the over dependence on generators, which were fired by oil.
The three day forum saw participants from 11 African countries trying to address barriers and challenges, which would counteract the development of geothermal resources in the East African Rift Valley System (EARS). Ruhamya further mentioned that geothermal energy is likely to contribute more than 300 MW to the national grid by the year 2017. An electricity master plan was also created, which shows that 50% of energy requirements would be contributed by geothermal energy by 2020.
She emphasized that the geothermal energy development in Rwanda has the right of way as it would reduce dependence on oil fired generators, which are responsible for 50% of the power generation and causes a huge strain on the national budget and slows down the social and economical development of the country. The plan was only in the preliminary stage with surface studies being carried out identifying two potential areas in the south and north areas of the country. She further added that in the next seven year plan, an investment of $900 million was expected both from private sector and the government for the production of 300 MW of geothermal energy.
The Director of the Department of Infrastructure and Energy, Aboubaker Baba Moussa, remarked that geothermal energy was not only environmentally friendly and renewable but was also cost-effective. The EARS had abundant geothermal energy reserves capable of generating 15000 MW of energy. A financier from the German Development Bank, Katrin KeBels, revealed as to how investments in the Kenyan geothermal projects gave her bank a boost and made it successful. She also hoped that this forum would give her bank opportunities for promoting geothermal power plants in this region too. The forum was hosted by the African Union with participants coming in from Eritrea, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, DR Congo, Djibouti, Comoros and Burundi.
Source: http://www.mininfra.gov.rw/