OVER 7,000 households in Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi are set to benefit from 80 megawatts of electricity from the Rusumo Falls hydro-electric project along Kagera River whose ground-breaking ceremony is set for today.
Tanzania’s Minister for Energy and
Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo and his Rwanda and Burundian
counterparts are expected to grace the ground-breaking event scheduled
at the Tanzania-Rwanda border. Each partner state will have a share of
26.6MW to be connected to their national power grids.
The project is as well meant to
strengthen the regional power interconnections between the three
countries, which are also member states of the East African Community
(EAC).
Apart from the 7,000 households to
benefit through the local area development program, there will be
additional 188 households, surrounding the project, to benefit directly
through the livelihood restoration program.
“This is in addition to providing job
opportunities to over 500 skilled, non- skilled and casual workers from
the three benefiting countries,” the event organisers said in a press
statement yesterday.
Construction of the power generation
plant is financed by the World Bank while the transmission lines that
will connect the power plant to the national grids in the three
countries will be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to the statement, there will
be representatives from the World Bank, AfDB and board members of the
Rusumo Power Company Limited from the respective shareholder countries.
The Rusumo Power Plant is implemented by
the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit
(NELSAP-CU) mandated by the three countries through the Rusumo Power
Company Ltd (RPCL).
The NELSAP-CU Regional Coordinator,
Engineer Elicad Nyabeeya, stressed that the regional project requires
effective coordination and management to deliver the power plant,
associated transmission lines and sub-stations on time.
He reiterated that once the project is
completed, it will enhance socio-economic growth, reinforce regional
cooperation, partnership and peace within the Kagera River Basin
countries. Construction of the power plant is expected to last three
years, until 2020.
It will be undertaken by a joint venture
of Chinese companies, CGCOC Group Limited and Jiangxi Water &
Hydropower Construction Company Limited Joint Venture (CGCOC - JWHC JV).
The two Chinese firms will execute the
civil works in addition to supply and installation of hydro-mechanical
equipment while a consortium Rusumo Falls Andritz Hydro GmbH of Germany
and Andritz Hydro PVT Limited of India will supply and install
electro-mechanical equipment for the power plant.
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