Difference between revisions of "Rwanda Energy Situation"

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== 1.1 Energy Sector  ==
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1. Situation Analysis
  
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The energy consumption of Rwanda‘s 9.2 Million inhabitants is one of the lowest in the world, for example, the average electricity consumption in 2004 was only 31 kWh per capita per year (in Germany was 7,442). Less than 6% of the population has access to electric power, with less than one percent in rural areas. 65% of the electricity is generated by hydropower, the remaining by diesel generators. 11.5 MW out of 56.6 MW total capacity are imported from the CEPGL association (SINELAC and SNEL companies in Burundi). The fuel for 3 diesel generation stations (around 100,000 t/year) contributes to 60-80% of the import expenditures. Biomass counts for 85% of the country energy balance and if exploitation persists at this rate, in 15 years the country will be entirely deforested. Due to the low purchasing power (more than 60 % of country’s population live below the absolute poverty line), more than 90% of the households use firewood or charcoal for cooking with traditional ovens with an efficiency rate of 15-20%.  
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=== 1.1 Energy situation  ===
  
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== 1.2 Power generation and distribution plans  ==
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Rwanda‘s energy balance shows that about 85% of its overall energy comes from biomass (99% of all households use biomass for cooking),11% from petroleum products (transport, electricity generation and industrial use) and 3% from hydro sources for electricity. In 2009 about 6% of the total population had access to electricity and the government has started a roll out programme to rapidly increase this to 16% by 2012 and at least 30% by 2020. The country has currently about 65 MW installed generating capacity (hydro and diesel) but there are a number of new sources coming on line within the coming years. The economic sectors with highest potential for growth (agricultural processing, tourism, IT) depend heavily on energy supply. While larger enterprises work mainly with expensive diesel generators, most of the small businesses in rural areas have no power supply. This limits their options for expansion and hinders productivity. At the same time, due to the shortage of energy, the greater part of the social infrastructure is unable to provide services efficiently.
  
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The economic sectors with the greatest potential for growth (agricultural processing, tourism, IT) are precisely the areas that depend most on improvements to the energy supply. While larger enterprises work mainly with expensive diesel generators, most of the small businesses in rural areas have no power supply. This limits their options for expansion and hinders productivity. At the same time, due to the shortage of energy the greater part of the social infrastructure is unable to provide services efficiently.
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 '''Hydro sector'''
  
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As during the 1994 genocide, most of the infrastructure for power generation and distribution was destroyed, the government resolved to implement a rehabilitation and expansion programme in 2002. The monopoly of the energy and water supplier, Electrogaz, which is currently under preparation for its privatisation, was abolished. The energy policy of 2004 is in line with environmental standards and envisages demand coverage by harnessing hydro power, methane gas from Lake Kivu, wind power, solar power and geothermal energy sources. Until 2010, the generation capacity is planned to increase from 40 MW, including imports, in 2005 (56.6 MW by the end of 2008) to 130 MW in 2012. The power supply grid had an extension of about 3,230 km in 2006 and it is targeted to reach 5,000 km in 2012. International donor community has pledged 228 M$ in order to be invested in the implementation of the five years programme National Electricity Access Programme 2009-2013.  
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There are only few providers of decentralized energy systems in the country. The PSP Hydro project will provide technical and business expertise to support the creation and development of economically sustainable small and micro energy providers. This will contribute to improve the power supply in Rwanda for productive applications (small and medium-sized enterprises), as well as the social infrastructure and electricity for households. A survey in 2007 prepared a micro hydro atlas which identified about 300 sites for small and micro hydro power which can be used for minigrids or connected to the national grid, depending on the location. There have already been a number of projects implemented through the Ministry with assistance of UNIDO, BTC and EU. These are constructed under direct supervision of the ministry and once operational, will be handed over either to the national power utility or will be managed through private companies or in joint venture.  
  
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Rural electrification, in particular, does not reach most regions. There are only few providers of decentralised energy systems in the country. The PSP Hydro project will contribute to strengthening the capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the social infrastructure, through improvements to the power supply. At the same time, the project will provide technical and business expertise to support the creation and development of economically sustainable small and micro energy providers.
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'''Biomass sector'''
  
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<br>
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Biomass (firewood, charcoal and residues) remains practically the only source for cooking. LPG consumption is extremely low (consumption per capita is 1/50 only of Kenya, the market leader in the region) while kerosene is practically only used for lighting. The Government‘s Vision 2020 asks for a reduction of biomass consumption by 50% by 2020, but is it not clear what the alternative sources of energy will be. Government programmes have focused on the increase of wood production (already 80% of the country‘s firewood and charcoal come from eucalyptus) through plantations and agro forestry programmes and to increase efficiency in charcoal production and the use of improved stoves. Already over 50% of all households have improved stoves (different models depending on the fuel used) and the Government wants to increase this percentage to 100% while at the same time improving the efficiencies of the improved stoves.
  
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== Activities and Approaches of other donors in MHP:  ==
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'''Biogas'''
  
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=== European Commission (EC) ===
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Biogas has been introduced in the country many years ago and Rwanda has gained international recognition for its programme in the prisons and large institutions. The Government in 2008 announced a policy to introduce biogas digesters in all boarding schools (estimated at around 600 schools), large health centres and institutions with canteens to reduce the consumption of firewood. The Ministry organised in 2009 a training programme for about 25 technicians and craftsmen. No further activities are taking place as there are no funds allocated to institutional biogas in the financial year 2009/10.
  
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The European Commission will provide a grant for the 50% of the cost of the plants that they will develop. According to the EC rules, this grant can not be given to private companies, therefore, they will give this money to the MININFRA, who will provide the remaining 50% of the investment.  
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Activities in the domestic biogas sector started much later. It is estimated that over 120,000 households have dairy cows that are kept under zero grazing conditions to reduce soil erosion and also due to lack of grazing areas. These numbers are increasing due to the governments programmes to increase the number of families with dairy cows. The National Domestic Biogas Programme started in 2007 with the construction of 101 pilot digesters funded by Ministry and with technical assistance from SNV. GTZ/EnDev inputs became available Jan 2008. Since that time the focus has been on capacity building, training of technicians and entrepreneurs, awareness campaigns and promotion. In total another 201 digesters were build up to 30 Sept 2009. About 30 large biogas digesters have been constructed in institutions and Rwanda has received international recognition for the biogas systems that have been installed in the prisons over the last decade reducing firewood consumption by up to 40% and improving hygienic conditions. The Government has announced a policy for boarding schools, health centres and other large consumers to install biogas systems within the coming years.  
  
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The EC will choose the sites to be developed and will open a tender to select the company that will construct the plants.
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'''Key problems of the energy sector'''
  
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Once the plant is finished, the MININFRA will give a concession for the exploitation of the plant to a private company, who will have to pay 50% of the cost, which means that the MININFRA will recover its investment and, in the end, the plant will be managed and maintained from a private approach.
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The following problems are noted for the energy sector:
  
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*1. Access to electricity remains low and in particular so in the rural areas even if roll out plans are implemented as *scheduled. Additional efforts are required to provide electricity to those will not be close to the national grid,  
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*2. Costs of new connections are at least $500/household and are beyond the reach of most households in Rwanda,  
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=== Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC)  ===
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*3. There is general a lack of entrepreneurial capacity in the country and this hampers small commercial electricity projects,
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*4. The increasing population and rising incomes per capita will result in a higher demand for cooking energy,
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The new BTC plants will follow a scheme similar to the ones of the EC. In this case, BTC may also cover the costs of the grid extension, which would mean that, in practice, they will provide more that 50% of the required investment. In addition, the MININFRA may request own resources from the future operator of the plant in order to share the cost from the construction stage of the project.
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*5. Government wants a reduction of the consumption of biomass (firewood/ charcoal) but there are only few alternatives such as LPG and kerosene. However, these are more expensive while electricity is no real option due to the high costs and the low connection rate.
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== Energy for cooking purposes<br>  ==
 
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In Rwanda, firewood and charcoal are practically the sole providers of cooking energy in the<br>rural areas. Firewood covers 90.4&nbsp;% of the demand and charcoal 7.4&nbsp;%, the remaining 2.2&nbsp;%<br>being mainly covered by agricultural residues. Even for the urban households firewood<br>(52&nbsp;%) and charcoal (39.5&nbsp;%) are by far the main sources of energy used, other sources<br>being gas and kerosene (2002 population and housing census). This dependency on<br>firewood and charcoal creates an unsustainable situation as the demand (1.93 kg/capita/day,<br>MININFRA, 2005) largely surpasses the production (0.46 kg/capita/day, MININFRA, 2005).<br>The Government of Rwanda is trying to curb the rate of deforestation amongst others by<br>banning the felling of trees without a permit. This rule applies to all trees including the ones in<br>privately owned production forest. However, it is doubtful whether this measure will help<br>without the availability of energy alternatives and fuel efficient woodstoves.<br>Households in rural Rwanda depend for more than 90&nbsp;% on fuelwood to meet their domestic<br>energy needs. For many of these households it becomes increasingly difficult to satisfy their<br>daily domestic energy requirements, due to the high population pressure and stringent<br>legislation designed to reduce (fuel)wood consumption. Collection of traditional fuels devours<br>time, in particular for women and children, which could have been spent otherwise at school<br>or in productive activities. By burning these fuels, particularly women and small children are<br>exposed to smoke and prone to respiratory illnesses and eye ailments. Often, the same<br>households are facing also the consequences of lack of hygiene and proper sanitation,<br>resulting in water borne diseases affecting mainly women and children. At many places, the<br>collection of traditional fuels damages the environment on which the people heavily rely.
 
  
 
[[Category:Rwanda]]
 
[[Category:Rwanda]]
 
[[Category:Country Situation]]
 
[[Category:Country Situation]]

Revision as of 23:08, 27 October 2009

1. Situation Analysis

1.1 Energy situation

Rwanda‘s energy balance shows that about 85% of its overall energy comes from biomass (99% of all households use biomass for cooking),11% from petroleum products (transport, electricity generation and industrial use) and 3% from hydro sources for electricity. In 2009 about 6% of the total population had access to electricity and the government has started a roll out programme to rapidly increase this to 16% by 2012 and at least 30% by 2020. The country has currently about 65 MW installed generating capacity (hydro and diesel) but there are a number of new sources coming on line within the coming years. The economic sectors with highest potential for growth (agricultural processing, tourism, IT) depend heavily on energy supply. While larger enterprises work mainly with expensive diesel generators, most of the small businesses in rural areas have no power supply. This limits their options for expansion and hinders productivity. At the same time, due to the shortage of energy, the greater part of the social infrastructure is unable to provide services efficiently.

 Hydro sector

There are only few providers of decentralized energy systems in the country. The PSP Hydro project will provide technical and business expertise to support the creation and development of economically sustainable small and micro energy providers. This will contribute to improve the power supply in Rwanda for productive applications (small and medium-sized enterprises), as well as the social infrastructure and electricity for households. A survey in 2007 prepared a micro hydro atlas which identified about 300 sites for small and micro hydro power which can be used for minigrids or connected to the national grid, depending on the location. There have already been a number of projects implemented through the Ministry with assistance of UNIDO, BTC and EU. These are constructed under direct supervision of the ministry and once operational, will be handed over either to the national power utility or will be managed through private companies or in joint venture.

Biomass sector

Biomass (firewood, charcoal and residues) remains practically the only source for cooking. LPG consumption is extremely low (consumption per capita is 1/50 only of Kenya, the market leader in the region) while kerosene is practically only used for lighting. The Government‘s Vision 2020 asks for a reduction of biomass consumption by 50% by 2020, but is it not clear what the alternative sources of energy will be. Government programmes have focused on the increase of wood production (already 80% of the country‘s firewood and charcoal come from eucalyptus) through plantations and agro forestry programmes and to increase efficiency in charcoal production and the use of improved stoves. Already over 50% of all households have improved stoves (different models depending on the fuel used) and the Government wants to increase this percentage to 100% while at the same time improving the efficiencies of the improved stoves.

Biogas

Biogas has been introduced in the country many years ago and Rwanda has gained international recognition for its programme in the prisons and large institutions. The Government in 2008 announced a policy to introduce biogas digesters in all boarding schools (estimated at around 600 schools), large health centres and institutions with canteens to reduce the consumption of firewood. The Ministry organised in 2009 a training programme for about 25 technicians and craftsmen. No further activities are taking place as there are no funds allocated to institutional biogas in the financial year 2009/10.

Activities in the domestic biogas sector started much later. It is estimated that over 120,000 households have dairy cows that are kept under zero grazing conditions to reduce soil erosion and also due to lack of grazing areas. These numbers are increasing due to the governments programmes to increase the number of families with dairy cows. The National Domestic Biogas Programme started in 2007 with the construction of 101 pilot digesters funded by Ministry and with technical assistance from SNV. GTZ/EnDev inputs became available Jan 2008. Since that time the focus has been on capacity building, training of technicians and entrepreneurs, awareness campaigns and promotion. In total another 201 digesters were build up to 30 Sept 2009. About 30 large biogas digesters have been constructed in institutions and Rwanda has received international recognition for the biogas systems that have been installed in the prisons over the last decade reducing firewood consumption by up to 40% and improving hygienic conditions. The Government has announced a policy for boarding schools, health centres and other large consumers to install biogas systems within the coming years.

Key problems of the energy sector

The following problems are noted for the energy sector:

  • 1. Access to electricity remains low and in particular so in the rural areas even if roll out plans are implemented as *scheduled. Additional efforts are required to provide electricity to those will not be close to the national grid,
  • 2. Costs of new connections are at least $500/household and are beyond the reach of most households in Rwanda,
  • 3. There is general a lack of entrepreneurial capacity in the country and this hampers small commercial electricity projects,
  • 4. The increasing population and rising incomes per capita will result in a higher demand for cooking energy,
  • 5. Government wants a reduction of the consumption of biomass (firewood/ charcoal) but there are only few alternatives such as LPG and kerosene. However, these are more expensive while electricity is no real option due to the high costs and the low connection rate.
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