8/24/09

Rwanda, DRC fund methane project


Written by BOSCO HITIMANA   
 
The feasibility study of the joint exploitation of
methane gas in Lake Kivu by Rwanda and
Democratic Republic of Congo will be
ready before June next year.

The European Commission (EC) has accepted

to finance the study and the funds should

be availed in two months to start the study,

Rwanda State Minister for Energy,

Dr. Albert Butare said.

The study may cost between $1.5 million and

$2 million, said Butare.

He explained that he held a meeting with

the Congolese energy minister discussing

specifically the joint venture that targets

to generate 200 megawatts of energy

from methane gas.

"We agreed that what is required to facilitate

this project in the first place is to have

a comprehensive study that entails

three major components," Butare said.

The components include financing mechanisms;

the technology to be used when extracting

the gas from the lake and changing it

into electrical power; and the environmental

and social impact assessment of the project. 

"With those three components you have

the project as a comprehensive package

which anybody would be ready to come

on board in terms of financing

for implementation," he said.

The ministers are speeding up the project

as requested by President Paul Kagame and

President Joseph Kabila in their recent

historic meeting held in Goma, eastern Congo.

When the study is completed, the ministers

will again sit with donors - European Union,

World Bank, AfDB, The Netherlands,

US Embassy, and

Belgian Cooperation - to discus financing

for the project implementation.

Once the joint extraction is finalized, the

two countries expect to boost power

supply which is a key ingredient

for economic development.

Rwanda will raise the current pick from

69MW to 169 MW once power from

the joint venture is ready.

Currently 6% of the total households in

Rwanda have electricity but the target is

to reach 16% by 2012,

according to government projections.



--
             J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm:    (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm:    (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home:  (250) (0) 25-510-4140
    P.O. Box 3867
  Kigali - RWANDA
    East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66

1 comment:

  1. Dear Margaret..

    Appreciate that you had time for your first comment and its nature..

    I wish I had more time for research in order to write my own posts..

    Be blessed...

    Lol, Gbu

    J-L K

    ReplyDelete