Kigali — The European Union has extended a grant of euro 23 million (nearly $ 25 million) which will go towards improving energy efficiency in the country.
This is part of getting over 70% of Rwanda’s population with access to electricity by financial year 2017/18.
The programme will be implemented over a period of three years consisting of mainly electricity infrastructure supplies as well as technical assistance, and it will cover about 45% of Rwanda Energy Group’s (REG) grid loss programme.
Rwanda’s Minister of Finance, Amb. Claver Gatete signed the financial agreement on behalf of the government while Amb. Michael Ryan the Head of the European Union delegation to Rwanda signed for the EU.
“Energy is one of the fundamental sectors that will catalyse the socio- economic development of Rwanda. This support will help improve and establish essential infrastructure that contribute to the reduction of technical losses and allow the transmission of electricity to the national grid and improve the security reliability and quality of supply to city of Kigali,” Minister Gatete said at a media briefing in Kigali last week.
Gatete said, “As we import more energy, we need to make sure that infrastructure is modernized as well”.
“EU support will help reduce the losses of power that we have been incurring from 23% to 17% which is really something very credible considering the many projects ongoing in Rwanda”, he said.
The project goals are upgrading of Mount Kigali, Birembo and Jabana substations as well as the construction of the new Gahanga substation. A 23km long 110kV power line will be built to connect the stations and to complete what is called the Kigali-Ring.
“Energy is a new focal sector for the EU and we believe that this is a strong step towards creating a vibrant energy sector in Rwanda,” Amb. Michael Ryan said.
He said, “An efficient power supply will accelerate socio-economic development of the country and contribute to the increased welfare of the people of Rwanda”.
GoR and the EU signed a Euro 460million agreement last year that will see Euro 200million go to the energy sector, Euro 200million to the agriculture sector, Euro 40million to accountable governance and supporting the work of the national statistics, Euro 10million to civil society and Euro 10million to supporting all activities in terms of functional support.
The energy project is in line with the Rwanda’s national development strategy, the economic development and poverty reduction strategy 2(EDPRS2) which aims to ensure a reliable energy supply as prerequisite for development.
It in line with global initiatives such as SE4All (Sustainable Energy for all) and supports the government efforts by responding directly to the energy sector’s goal by helping ensure an efficient power network through grid loss reduction.
Implementation of the project will be done by REG under supervision of the ministry of infrastructure it line ministry.
The project goals are upgrading of the Mount Kigali, Birembo and Jabana substations as well as the construction of the new Gahanga substation.
A 23 km long 110kV power line will be built to connect the stations and to complete what is called the Kigali-Ring. The project is in line with the Rwandan national development strategy, the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2), which aims to ensure a reliable energy supply as prerequisite for development.
It is in line with global initiatives such as SE4All (Sustainable Energy for All) and supports the Government efforts by responding directly to the energy sector’s goals by helping ensure an efficient power network through grid loss reduction. Implementation of this project will be undertaken by REG under the supervision of its line ministry, the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA).
The European Union signed a six-year aid agreement with Rwanda in Brussels in September 2014, making available EUR 460 million to be invested in energy, agriculture and governance. After discussions with the Government of Rwanda, it was agreed to set aside EUR 200 million of this amount purely for energy.
