KivuWatt Power Station

KivuWatt Power Station is a 26 MW (35,000 hp) methane gas-fired thermal power plant in Rwanda.[2]

Kivuwatt Power Station
CountryRwanda
LocationKibuye
Coordinates02°03′15″S 29°21′12″E
StatusOperational
Commission date17 May 2016[1]
Owner(s)KivuWatt Limited
Thermal power station
Primary fuelMethane
Power generation
Nameplate capacity26 MW (35,000 hp)

Location

The power plant is located in Kibuye, Karongi District, in the Western Province of Rwanda, approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi), by road, west of Kigali, the capital and largest city in the country.[3]

Overview

KivuWatt project will extract methane from the waters of Lake Kivu and use the gas to generate electricity. The generated power will be purchased by Rwanda Electricity Corporation (RECO), the Rwandan electricity utility.

The $200 million project, owned by ContourGlobal and executed in cooperation with Wärtsilä, is expected to add 26MW of generating capacity in its first phase (ongoing now) and eventually scale up to 100MW in the coming years. In a developed country, the current 25MW would provide enough energy for 45,000 people.[4]

Phase 1 of the project, with capacity of 25MW, was expected to start commercial operation in 2012. Phase 2 of the project, with additional capacity of 75 MW, is expected to start construction six months after the commissioning of Phase 1. The project is being developed by KivuWatt Limited, a subsidiary of ContourGlobal, under a concession agreement made with the Government of Rwanda in 2009.[5] KivuWatt Limited plans to extract some of the estimated 60 billion cubic meters of methane gas trapped under Lake Kivu and convert that gas into electricity, something that has not been done on a large commercial scale before.[6] Construction concluded in November 2015 and the power station was under testing and calibration from November 2015[7] until commissioning in June 2016.

The KivuWatt power plant was inaugurated by Rwanda's president Paul Kagame on 16 May 2016.[8]

See also

References
  1. Reuters (17 May 2016). "Rwanda launches power plant that uses methane gas". The EastAfrican Quoting Reuters. Nairobi. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. Tumwebaze, Peterson (17 July 2015). "Rwanda: Government Moves To Fix Power Challenges". New Times (Rwanda) via AllAfrica.com. Kigali. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  3. GFC, . (17 July 2015). "Road Distance Between Kigali And Kibuye With Map". Globefeed.com (GFC). Retrieved 17 July 2015.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "Killer lake's renewable potential". www.wartsila.com. Twentyfour7. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  5. Nagarajan S; et al. (2012). "KivuWatt Power Plant Project: Executive Summary of the Abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan" (PDF). African Development Bank. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  6. Rosen, Jonathan W. (16 April 2015). "Lake Kivu's Great Gas Gamble". Technologyreview.com. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. Agutamba, Kenneth (17 November 2015). "KivuWatt energy finally connected to national grid". New Times (Rwanda). Kigali. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  8. Jean, Nizeyimama. (16 May 2016). "President Kagame inaugurates the KivuWatt power plant". Umuseke.rw. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
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