Rwanda's renewable energy moves ahead with off-grid power systems

A renewable energy initiative aims to provide Rwandans with something many have to do without: a regular source of power. A London-based renewable electricity operator in Rwanda, backed by multinational corporations, has won World Bank support for a far-reaching energy investment plan to scale up off-grid renewable power in the African nation. The program, dubbed Capital Access for Renewable Energy (CARE), is part of a move by Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) to boost ownership of power distribution in Rwanda, where only 18 percent of the population is estimated to be connected to the electricity grid. 

Celestin Mvunabandi, a businessman in the northwestern village of Nyundo, is unaware of the importance of renewable energy, but he knows he cannot rely on the ailing national energy grid for a steady power supply.Almost five years ago, as Mvunabandi's village endured daily power outages, a 500-ampere car battery ensured he had light in his home."Using car batteries offers at least stable light at my home," he told Xinhua. Now Mvunabandi helps his neighbors use solar-powered mobile chargers to facilitate communication and money transactions. Nearly two years after GVEP was granted a production license to develop pico-hydropower installations in Rwanda, residents from several remote rural villages have been trained and organized into cooperatives, which have been granted loans to boost electricity connection in the country through small- and medium-sized businesses. 

During the first phase of CARE, 184 businesses managed by local cooperatives across Rwanda are expected to be funded to acquire solar energy equipment for charging mobile phone batteries in remote rural areas by 2015. In addition, some 40 mini-hydropower projects with a capacity of 215 kw each will be installed across remote rural areas by 2017, in a move to fill the existing gap in national production of electricity of more than 50 percent, currently filled by electricity imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

"The project, using small photovoltaic panels to convert sunlight into electricity, is one of the innovative off-grid power systems to facilitate job creation and small businesses such as mobile money transactions," GVEP project manager Herbert Nyaga said. Meanwhile, investors who have been waiting for years to tap Rwanda's huge potential in renewable energy say they finally see some hope of accessing cost-effective electricity that can support basic rural health care and telecommunication services in remote rural areas. "In recent years, Rwanda has been the sleeping giant of renewable energy since investment was very low," Nyaga said, adding the country was now making progress in this area. 

In 2007, the Rwandan government passed a law promoting renewable energy and approved new incentives for individuals to install solar panels on rooftops and sell electricity, replacing a costly licensing process in a country where the untapped resources for power generation amount to about 1,200 megawatts.The country's target is to have at least 70 percent of the population connected to electricity.GVEP and other investors are convinced off-grid solutions will offer Rwanda an important opportunity to achieve universal access to electricity by exploiting existing renewable energy. "Solar power is usually among the most warmly welcomed green options and building photovoltaic and mini-hydropower plants there is going to deliver better environmental and economic benefits," Nyaga said.

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