ENGL
KINY
Gisagara, 9th May, 2017-The Government of Rwanda launched the commencement of the construction of another mult-million project to increase energy generation by 80MW.
A ground breaking ceremony was held in Mamba sector,Gisagara District and was officiated by Honorable Minister of Infrastructure, James MUSONI accompanied by Chairman of the Board of Hakan AS, Ahmet Karasoy, the Minister of State in charge of Energy and water, Hon.Germaine Kamayirese, lenders and sponsors and other stakeholders.
The QUANTUM POWER (HQ Power) is the first private company to establish a peat power plant in Africa. A Turkish coal company and investor, HAKAN AS, together with an international power company, QUANTUM POWER, with participation of a project development company, THEMIS own the company. Importantly, the company counts on the support of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), FINNFUND, India Exim Bank, PTA Bank, Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) and the African Export Import Bank. This is one of the most important and transformational energy projects in Africa.
This project is the first of its kind in Africa (first peat power project in Africa) expected to increase 40% of national power capacity and it will bring more energy independence to the Country since it is meant to use 100% of domestic fuel leading to reduction of imports.
The 80MW Peat-Fired Power Plant will be constructed alongside Akanyaru River, Mamba Sector, Gisagara District bordering Burundi under a Build Operate, Own and Transfer (BOOT) basis with a 26 year of Power Purchase Agreement. It involves construction and operations of both peat harvesting facilities and power generation facilities. The Project has a second phase, which has an additional 40MW of capacity.
The peat power plant will be constructed under EPC Contractor worth $210Million; with a total project cost of $350 Million and the construction is expected to be completed in 36 Months. After the construction HQ power will operate the plant for 26 years and then transfer it to the government of Rwanda.
According to the Minister of Infrastructure, Honorable James MUSONI, the project comes as another commendable step towards achieving our economic goals and raising Rwandans economic and social status as replicated in our development strategies. “This project will increase our installed capacity by 80 MW and might be the biggest power plant in the country by the time it comes on line. Together with other energy projects in pipeline, it’s expected that our installed capacity will significantly increase to more than 500MW in the next five years “He quotes.
The project is a synergy with other strategic projects that Rwanda has invested in and is expected to bring more energy to the national grid,” he noted, extending appreciation to HAKAN and other partners for their faith in Rwanda’s economy and in the country. The government provided basic infrastructure before the commencement of the project such as access road, expropriations fees, Water, and transmission line worth $65million.