A Rwf6 billion plant that will supply up to twelve megawatts of electricity to the national grid from bio-degradable waste will, if everything goes according to plan, be available in eight months following a partnership agreement between Rwandan and Belgian private sector firms.

Diogene Harerimana, the managing director of AGRUNI, the local firm that is ordering immediately the mobile plants, said that the RENTEC, a Belgian company, would provide the plants.

"The factory will be available in eight months as we have ordered for facilities. We will start by producing two megawatts immediately and then increase to twelve megawatts as per the agreement”, he told The New Times on Monday in an interview.

The agreement comes after the City of Kigali urged investors to utilise the waste from the Nduba landfill site to produce energy.

The move is in line with government’s efforts to increase electricity generation from the current 161.2 megawatts to 563 megawatts by 2018 and thus increasing the number of households with electricity from around 20 per cent today to 70 per cent by 2018.

Explaining how electricity will be generated Harerimana said that the bio-degradable waste in Nduba dumpsite will be processed by machines.

"The machines will seperate degradable waste from non-degradable waste like plastics, trees, e-waste and stones. The decaying waste will then produce gas, which will then be burnt to produce electricity that will then get connected to national grid. The non-bio-degradable waste will be supplied to other factories for recycling”, he said.

The Ministry of Trade and industry has also started a project to recycle solid and electronic waste into other domestic materials.

"Besides the factory that will produce waste into energy in Busanza in Kicukiro other machines will be located in Musanze, Nyabihu and Rubavu districts. Our company collects three quarters of all the waste in the country. We transport 250 tonnes per day,” he added.

AGRUNI’s initiative follows the Rwanda-Belgian business forum that took place on November 16. Speaking at the event, the Belgian ambassador to Rwanda, Arnout Pauwels, said that investors from 43 Belgian companies were exploring investment opportunities in Rwanda.

Francois Kanimba, the Minister for Trade and Industry, while addressing the forum, said that cooperation between both countries would boost export revenues, entrepreneurship skills as well as foster strong cooperation with European markets.

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