Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have agreed in principle to work together on a 200 megawatt power project that is set to see the energy gap reduced by 2012.

The project is set to commence once high-level consultations from both sides conclude.

This was the focus of recent bilateral discussions aimed at discussing ways in which both countries can cooperate in the exploitation of methane gas from Lake Kivu, shared by both countries.

Both sides have held a series of meetings before and during the most recent, in Kigali early this month, a concept note outlining key features of the joint power-generation project was prepared by technical teams from both countries.

"We agreed, in principle, at a concept level, on two things; one was to develop a joint project of producing about two hundred mega watts from methane gas,” Energy State Minister Dr. Albert Butare said .

"We’ve also agreed that we both consult with our respective authorities and once we get the green light, then we put up a joint team to start developing the project, at the preparation level.”

Once finalized, Dr. Butare acknowledges that Rwanda’s share of the project – 100mw – will be a massive boost to the country’s electrification roll-out target of 16 percent (350,000 connections) by 2012.

Rwanda’s current peak capacity of 61mw only satisfy six percent of the population– about 110,000 total connections.

On the joint Rwanda-DRC project, the state minister stressed that much remains to be ironed out, especially how both governments will invest in the project, in addition to jointly choosing experts to develop the project and deciding on the developer.

"There are certain procedures we go through to develop a joint project, but these should be done by a joint team. So we are not yet there, literally we are still both consulting.”

In their last meeting, also agreed on was having a Joint Regulatory Authority in charge of the lake – monitoring and regulating gas extraction activities, to make sure that developers adhere to well established guidelines, rules and regulations.

Last May, a Rwandan team attended the presentation and adaptation of such guidelines by international experts during a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

International experts have been working on these guidelines for the past two years and, in July, the Rwandans will again meet their Congolese counterparts in Kinshasa and go through these guidelines with them since DRC was not represented in Copenhagen.

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