Two contracts, worth $75 million (about Rwf46 billion), for the initial construction works of the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project have been signed.

The contracts for the power project to generate 80 megawatts of electricity were signed in Kigali on Wednesday.

The first contract was signed between Rusumo Power Company Limited (RPCL), and a consortium of contractors, including CGCOC Group Ltd – Jiangxi Water and Hydropower Construction Company Ltd Joint Venture (CGCOC – JWHC JV).

The Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme Coordination Unit signed on behalf of Rusumo Power Company Limited.

The first contract provides for civil works, including supply and installation of hydro-mechanical equipment (the design, dam, waterways, power station and other associated civil engineering works.

The second contract was signed between Rusumo Power Company Limited and a consortium of companies, including German company Rusumo Falls Andritz Hydro GmbH and Indian company Andritz Hydro PVT Ltd, to carry out mechanical and electrical works for power generation.

The generated hydroelectric power will be shared equitably among Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Eng. Elicad Elly Nyabeeya, the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme Coordination Unit regional coordinator, said they were glad with the steps to move the project forward.

The civil works will formally start at Rusumo site in January 2017, and go on for a period of three years.

Inside the project

But the formal start of the construction works is scheduled for the last week of January and will be witnessed by Energy, Water and Finance Ministers from stakeholder countries, the RPCL board members from respective shareholder countries, and other project key stakeholders, according to officials.

The Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project is a Nile Basin Initiative key project prepared through its investment arm the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme Coordination Unit.

Construction of the 80-megawatt Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project is financed by the World Bank at a cost of $340 million, while the transmission lines that will connect the power plant to the national grids in the three countries are financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) at a cost of $121 million.

The Governments of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania agreed to jointly develop the project and manage the hydroelectric power plant through Rusumo Power Company Ltd owned by the three countries.

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