Energy use in Rwanda is undergoing rapid change at the beginning of the 21st century.
Contents
Energy use in Rwanda is undergoing rapid change at the beginning of the 21st century.
The extent of grid electricity is limited and mainly concentrated near Kigali. Most of the country uses firewood as its main energy source. Rwanda is planning to expand from 276 MW of grid power in 2022 to 556 MW in 2024 and may import some additional electricity from neighboring countries. In addition, it is installing small solar units throughout the country to ensure that households located in off-grid areas have access to electricity, or to help deal with power outages. Currently, the government plans to bring electricity access to 100% of the population by 2024, as opposed to 74.5% in 2022. [1]
In July 2023 it was announced that Saudi Arabia would provide a soft loan of $20 million to fund an electricity project in Rwanda set to benefit 60,000 people. [2]
With its limited electrical infrastructure, Rwanda has a very high degree of renewable energy usage. Most of the country's electricity comes from hydropower. [3] Electrical production accounted for 4% of energy use in the country in 2014,
53% of electricity is generated by hydropower. At the end of 2018, Rwanda's grid-connected power plants supplied 221.1MW. [4]
KivuWatt project is an energy project to extract natural gas dissolved in Lake Kivu and use the extracted gas to generate electricity. [5] In 2016, the operational 25 MW power plant is able to provide enough energy for 45,000 people in Rwanda. The ongoing expansion project is expected to add 26 MW of generating capacity in its first phase, and eventually scale up to 100 MW in the coming years. [5]
The first utility-scale solar farm in Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa is the 8.5 MW plant at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (Liquidnet Family High School), in the Rwamagana District, Eastern Province of Rwanda. It leased 20 hectares (49 acres) of land from the village which is a charity to house and educate Rwandan genocide victims. The plant uses 28,360 photovoltaic panels and produces 6% of total electrical supply of the country. The project was built with U.S., Israeli, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish and UK funding and expertise. [6]
The use of off-grid solar power has increased as solar panel prices have fallen and many areas do not expect grid connections in the near future. Solar power produces over 2% of electricity in the country. The country is in the midst of a rapid expansion of its electrical grid and many new plants are proposed or under construction.
Biomass is the most important energy source utilized through firewood and agricultural waste for cooking. In 2014, this represented 85% of Rwanda's energy use. [7] Peat from peat marshes in southwestern Rwanda will power two electrical plants. The first 15 MW plant is expected online in 2015 with the second, a 80 MW plant, expected in 2017.
| Generation type | Installed capacity 2019 (MW) |
|---|---|
| Thermal | 103 |
| Hydroelectric | 98 |
| Solar | 12 |
| Total | 213 |
Petroleum, mainly for transportation, represented 11% of Rwanda's power in 2014. Although Rwanda is thought to have crude oil and natural gas reserves near Lake Kivu, as of 2014, there was no production of these resources and demand was met by imports. The Kenya–Uganda–Rwanda Petroleum Products Pipeline would transport oil between these countries if it is built.
For solar power, South Asia has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and a high density of potential customers.
Burning of renewable resources provides approximately 90 percent of the energy in Uganda, though the government is attempting to become energy self-sufficient. While much of the hydroelectric potential of the country is untapped, the government decision to expedite the creation of domestic petroleum capacity coupled with the discovery of large petroleum reserves holds the promise of a significant change in Uganda's status as an energy-importing country.
Ghana generates electric power from hydropower, fossil-fuel, and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Electricity generation is one of the key factors in order to achieve the development of the Ghanaian national economy, with aggressive and rapid industrialization; Ghana's national electric energy consumption was 265 kilowatt hours per each one in 2009.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo was a net energy exporter in 2008. Most energy was consumed domestically in 2008. According to the IEA statistics the energy export was in 2008 small and less than from the Republic of Congo. 2010 population figures were 3.8 million for the RC compared to CDR 67.8 Million.
Energy in Ethiopia includes energy and electricity production, consumption, transport, exportation, and importation in the country of Ethiopia.
The electricity sector of Uruguay has traditionally been based on domestic hydropower along with thermal power plants, and reliant on imports from Argentina and Brazil at times of peak demand. Over the last 10 years, investments in renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar power allowed the country to cover in early 2016 94.5% of its electricity needs with renewable energy sources.
Energy in Zimbabwe is a serious problem for the country. Extensive use of firewood leads to deforestation and the electricity production capacity is too low for the current level of consumption.
In 2018, Nigeria's primary energy consumption was about 155 Mtoe. Most of the energy comes from traditional biomass and waste, which accounted for 73.5% of total primary consumption in 2018. The rest is from fossil fuels (26.4%) and hydropower.
Energy in Bhutan has been a primary focus of development in the kingdom under its Five-Year Plans. In cooperation with India, Bhutan has undertaken several hydroelectric projects whose output is traded between the countries. Though Bhutan's many hydroelectric plants provide energy far in excess of its needs in the summer, dry winters and increased fuel demand makes the kingdom a marginal net importer of energy from India.
This article describes energy and electricity production, consumption, import and export in Kenya. Kenya's current effective installed electricity capacity is 2,651 megawatts (MW), with peak demand of 1,912 MW, as of November 2019. At that time, demand was rising at a calculated rate of 3.6 percent annually, given that peak demand was 1,770 MW, at the beginning of 2018. Electricity supply is mostly generated by renewable sources with the majority coming from geothermal power and hydroelectricity.
Despite its high potential for wind energy generation, wind power in Kenya currently contributes only about 16 percent of the country's total electrical power. However, its share in energy production is increasing. Kenya Vision 2030 aims to generate 2,036 MW of wind power by 2030. To accomplish this goal, Kenya is developing numerous wind power generation centers and continues to rely on the nation's three major wind farms: the Lake Turkana Wind Power Station, the Kipeto Wind Power Station, and the Ngong Hills Wind Farm. While these wind power stations are beneficial to help offset fossil fuel usage and increase overall energy supply reliability in Kenya, project developments have also negatively impacted some indigenous communities and the parts of the environment surrounding the wind farms.
Most of Kenya's electricity is generated by renewable energy sources. Access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy is one of the 17 main goals of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Development of the energy sector is also critical to help Kenya achieve the goals in Kenya Vision 2030 to become a newly industrializing, middle-income country. With an installed power capacity of 2,819 MW, Kenya currently generates 826 MW hydroelectric power, 828 geothermal power, 749 MW thermal power, 331 MW wind power, and the rest from solar and biomass sources. Kenya is the largest geothermal energy producer in Africa and also has the largest wind farm on the continent. In March 2011, Kenya opened Africa's first carbon exchange to promote investments in renewable energy projects. Kenya has also been selected as a pilot country under the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programmes in Low Income Countries Programme to increase deployment of renewable energy solutions in low-income countries. Despite significant strides in renewable energy development, about a quarter of the Kenyan population still lacks access to electricity, necessitating policy changes to diversify the energy generation mix and promote public-private partnerships for financing renewable energy projects.
Ethiopia generates most of its electricity from renewable energy, mainly hydropower.
Energy in Tanzania is fundamental to the nation's projected economic growth, with estimates indicating that the economy could expand sevenfold by 2040, while energy demand is expected to increase by only 150% due to advancements in fuel efficiency. The country is actively enhancing its energy mix, primarily relying on natural gas for more than half of its electricity generation and significant contributions from hydropower, with oil primarily used for backup power. Tanzania has a wide range of energy resources in abundance, which are not yet fully exploited. These include; wood fuel, other biomass fuels, hydropower, natural gas, coal, wind, geothermal, uranium and solar.
KivuWatt Power Station is a 26 MW (35,000 hp) methane gas-fired thermal power plant in Rwanda.
Nepal is a country enclosed by land, situated between China and India. It has a total area of 148,006.67 square kilometers and a population of 29.16 million. It has a small economy, with a GDP of $33.66 billion in 2020, amounting to about 1% of South Asia and 0.04% of the World's GDP.
Myanmar had a total primary energy supply (TPES) of 16.57 Mtoe in 2013. Electricity consumption was 8.71 TWh. 65% of the primary energy supply consists of biomass energy, used almost exclusively (97%) in the residential sector. Myanmar’s energy consumption per capita is one of the lowest in Southeast Asia due to the low electrification rate and a widespread poverty. An estimated 65% of the population is not connected to the national grid. Energy consumption is growing rapidly, however, with an average annual growth rate of 3.3% from 2000 to 2007.
Zambia is potentially self-sufficient in sources of electricity, coal, biomass and renewable energy. The only energy source where the country is not self-sufficient is petroleum energy. Many of the sources of energy where the country is self-sufficient are largely unexploited. As of 2017, the country's electricity generating capacity stood at 1,901 megawatts.