Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric construction has started

The Power Plant project aiming to provide Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi is ongoing since the March 30 groundbreaking ceremony.

The World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB) are the two financiers of the project. The USD 340M hydroelectric construction is founded by the World Bank while the ADB finances the transmission line that is to connect the power plant to the three national grids at a cost of USD 121M.

The Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric project is located on the Kagera River that runs through Rwanda (on the Southeast), Tanzania (on the Northwest) and Burundi. It would generate 80MW renewable power to be shared equally among the three countries and is expected to provide electricity for more than 7,000 households. An additional 26.6MW energy would be connected to the three national grids through the transmission line.

On March 30, a ceremony held on the site marked the project groundbreaking.

Sospeter Muhongo, Tanzania Minister of Energy and Minerals said: « I see this ground breaking ceremony as a significant milestone to our journey towards the production of electricity for our region and a strong sign of cooperation between the Eastern African countries. Once the Rusumo project is completed, it will contribute to the much needed additional electricity for the three countries and enable interconnection with other countries.”

The contractors CGCOC Group and Jiangxi Water & Hydropower Construction Company would manage the hydro-mechanical equipment supplying. The electro-mechanical equipment installation would be executed by the German and Indian based Andritz Hydro companies.

The project should be completed in 2020.