ContourGlobal, a New York based power supply company, was recently awarded the 2011 Africa Power Deal of the Year by Euromoney’s Project Finance magazine for its U$142 million KivuWatt project.Located on Lake Kivu in the Western Province, KivuWatt project is an integrated methane gas extraction and production facility.During the award gala held in London, the project’s Lending Group accepted the prestigious award for the KivuWatt project financing.The KivuWatt lending group includes Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries. Special recognition went to the groundbreaking nature of the project and the commitment and hard work of the financing team.The president and Chief Executive Officer of ContourGlobal, Joseph C. Brandt, said: "We are grateful for this recognition of our innovative and path-breaking KivuWatt project and are delighted to share this award with our finance and legal partners without whom this much needed project would not have been realised. We look forward to bringing Phase I of KivuWatt into operation later this year.”"This is good news, but the most critical thing is now to focus on getting 25 megawatts of electricity within 10 months,” said Albert Nsengiyumva, Minister of infrastructure.According to Tim Turner, the Director, Private Sector Operations at AfDB, the bank is proud to support the project which is an example of how to adapt an advanced technology to a unique country situation.The methane which lies beneath Lake Kivu, will be converted into critical electricity for Rwandans, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” Turner is quoted speaking to Euromoney Project Finance magazine.Once completed later this year, the project will raise and process methane gas trapped deep in the waters of Lake Kivu for use as fuel to generate critically needed electricity, while simultaneously safely removing harmful lake gases.