5.3.2015-President Paul Kagame inaugurated Nyabarongo I Hydro-power plant located in Mushishiro Sector of Muhanga District, Southern Province. The plant adds 28 megawatts to Rwanda’s power grid and will play a key role in powering the country’s economic transformation.

With two units of 14 megawatts each, Nyabarongo I is the largest domestic Hydro-power plant in Rwanda. It makes a significant contribution to the national power grid as the country works to generate  563 megawatts by 2018. The current production stands at 160  megawatts.

After commissioning the power plant, President Kagame interacted with over 2,000 residents of Mushishiro sector. The President said that all Rwandans should benefit from the country’s economic transformation:

“We will do all we can to ensure access to electricity for all homes, schools, hospitals and industries. To increase access to electricity, exploiting national resources for energy and enhancing regional integration will play a key role. We have made progress but we need to do even more, work together and spare no efforts to achieve our goals. Our goal is to make sure that every Rwandan wherever they may live benefit from the country’s progress.”

Speaking at the inauguration, Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure James Musoni said that, with Nyabarongo I’s contribution to the national power grid, the country will be saving close to US$ 3 million (2.2 billion Rwf) per month, an amount previously spent on diesel generators to produce power:

Rwanda plans to add more 70 megawatts to the national power grid before the end of this year and we will also start other projects to generate almost 300 megawatts by 2018,” the Minister said.

Rwanda aims to become a knowledge driven, middle income country by 2020 and energy will play a crucial role in giving citizens and industries the resources they need to thrive.

Nyabarongo I Hydro-power plant is located on the Nyabarongo river and construction works started in May 2009. An Indian consortium constructed the plant. The contractors included Angelique International Ltd for civil works, Bharat Heavy Electrical for electro-mechanical and hydro-mechanical works and RSWI, a Canadian firm, for supervision. 

The GoR funded the project  with a line credit from Exim Bank of India  with a loan of US $80 million (approximately 56 billion Rwf) and the Government of Rwanda with US $17.7 million (approximately 14 billion Rwf).