The Nile Basin Equatorial Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP), a subsidiary of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), on Monday received € 2million (Rwf1.6b) from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support two consultancy studies; the power network analysis and the regional guidelines studies.

The funds were mobilised through the European Union Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-AITF).

During the signing ceremony, Eng. Elicad Elly Nyabeeya, NELSAP regional coordinator said that the funds will contribute to the realisation of the project objective; to improve access of electricity in NBI countries through increased cross-border sharing of energy.

"The project is almost complete and we expect the first commissioning of interconnector lines to start next month through 2016. This funding will support critical power studies to determine the network behaviour of the integrated grid system and regional guideline studies to operate and manage a network spanning over five countries,” he said.

He also added that NELSAP has concluded concept notes and approached development partners to scale up more power developments which will need additional support and cooperation in terms of power pipelined projects that were approved by Nile Equatorial Lakes Council of Water ministers during the recently concluded governance meeting.

The NBI executive director John Rao Nyaoro said that the provision of funds to enable implementation of this project will contribute to more reliable and affordable power supply in the Nile basin region.

"By 2020, the implementation of electric grids by NBI will avail 8,500 megawatts (MW) through new regional lines and at least 167.5 MW through new generation capacity that could benefit 22 million people through low cost power generation as well as contribute to poverty alleviation in the region,” he said.

He added that the interconnection of electric grids consists of six interconnectors under implementation covering Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Once it is complete, the project will deliver 946km of 220 – 400 kilovolt transmission lines and 17 associated substations in five countries.

"The total cost of this project is USD 415 million from development partners. Our partners include Afdb, Government of Netherlands, Republic of Germany and the European Union. Once it’s complete, the project will have huge economic benefits for the entire East African region. Countries will be able to purchase low cost surplus power from other countries to their national customers, he added.

The AfDB country representative, Makonnen Negatu said that the bank is committed to supporting energy projects at both the national and regional level, reiterating the need to undertake critical studies for energy projects, identify bankable energy projects and to work smart.

"We have experienced delays on this project but I think this study will be a game-changer if we deliver on time.

We need to improve our readiness, design of the project and quality of work. With resources, we shouldn’t have any delays. We promise our commitment to supporting more energy projects,” he said.

NELSAP is one of the investment programmes under the NBI that is mandated to facilitate and strengthen the identification, preparation and implementation of supervisory processes for investments for the benefit of all riparian countries’ in power development, trade, water resources management and management.

Member countries include Uganda, Burundi, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Egypt, Tanzania and Sudan. editorial@newtimes.co.rw