Alternative Sources of Energy in Rwanda

Post Genocide Rwanda faces a major challenge: finding alternative sources of energy. The country of Rwanda is relatively small. About the same size as Vermont, Rwanda’s population is 8.1 million, and rapidly increasing. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa with 273 inhabitants living per square kilometer. With only six percent of the population living in urban areas, conditions in the countryside become very crowded. Agriculture accounts for almost 50% of the nation’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and since Rwanda grows most of its food, agriculture is essential in sustaining the ever-expanding population. In order to make room for the many expanding farms, more land is needed for cultivation. As a result, forests are disappearing in Rwanda. Wood is also by far the main source of energy in Rwandan households, accounting for over 93% of the energy consumption. The average Rwandan living in rural areas uses 1.2 kilograms of wood a day. At this rate, reserves would have been exhausted by 2015. Wood is becoming scarce due to the growing agriculture industry, but also because of its overuse. The problem needs to be addressed in Rwanda. Alternatives need to be made available to Rwandans, such as hydroelectric power and geothermal power.

Rwanda has a lot of potential for hydroelectric power. Although it is not a very large country, the future of its hydroelectric energy lies in its many rivers and lakes. The Ministry of Energy (MINERENA) has put an energy development plan into action, which covers hydroelectricity, energy saving, and geothermal energy. This plan, which is partly funded by the Austrian government, will increase the industrial capabilities for the manufacturing of hydroelectric power plants; thus reducing the number of generators and turbines having to be imported from foreign countries. The energy development program will train more engineers, electricians, and mechanics in the field of hydroelectric technology, maintenance, and design; thus increasing Rwanda’s independency from foreign aid. The energy saving branch’s goal is to promote the use of energy alternatives, and to reduce wood consumption. The DGE, Rwanda’s energy department, has previously identified 259 possible sites for these plants, four of which are being renovated, and six of which are under construction. Out of the 259, 106 of the sites are in good technical condition, and four are operational. The renovation of another two sites and the construction of three more would produce a third of the electrical power currently installed. Although the installation of larger hydroelectric plants is not feasible for Rwanda, the setting up of micro hydroelectric plants will still provide Rwanda with an efficient and abundant alternative to wood, and pave the way for the larger plants in the future.

The energy development plan instituted by MINERENA calls for the implementation of another natural alternative to wood – geothermal energy. Although the scale of geothermal energy is not as great as hydroelectricity in Rwanda, the energy development plan holds solar and geothermal alternatives high in its agenda. The program calls for the repair and implementation of a large group of photovoltaic solar plants, the building of a brand new geothermal power plant, and the education and promotion of solar and geothermal energy to the public.

The combined electrical output of hydroelectric, solar, and geothermal plants would provide Rwandans with clean, natural, and efficient alternatives to wood. And more alternatives are continually being made available to Rwandans. There is the large deposit of methane gas under Lake Khivu, where Sociogaz, a company co-owned by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is working to distribute this valuable resource equally to both nations. Although devastated by the events of the genocide, the nation of Rwanda is back on its feet, with a GDP equal to that of pre-genocide Rwanda. The success of the energy development program of MINERENA will be a big step in providing the country with secure energy supply, and a larger step in preventing the further deforestation of Rwanda.

Solar panels such as those pictured here could be utilized in remote parts of Rwanda that are far from a power grid and lack a transmission infrastructure to deliver electricity. Such panels might serve to reduce local deforestation if they can be used in such a way to help people satisfy their most basic energy needs for cooking and the purification of water.

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