Oil exporter to build $4m terminal in Kigali

By PHILIP NGUNJIRI Of The East African

"Hashi Empex, Nairobi-based exporter of refined petroleum products to the East and Central African region, is to construct a $4 million fuel storage terminal in Kigali, Rwanda.

Hashi Empex managing director Ahmed Hashi made the announcement last week at a dinner held at the Kigali Serena Hotel to mark the signing of a contract to supply 3.5 million litres of fuel per month to Rwanda’s power generation company, Electrogaz.

The fuel will be used to power thermal turbines."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Investment + East African

Rwanda lowers fuel prices

Picture By Tomas F
By BOSCO HITIMANA of The EABW

"KIGALI, RWANDA — Rwanda’s trade and industry ministry has announced a fall in fuel prices to about 13.6% effective this month. Both petrol and diesel pump prices have fallen from Rwf875 ($1.57) to Rwf756 ($1.3) per litre."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Economy

Rwanda: Parliament OKs Break Up of Large Utility Provider

From the Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)

"Amid a biting electricity and water crisis, government has decided to dismantle the mega utility provider Electrogaz into two separate entities, RNA reports.

A new bill passed on Tuesday by both Chambers of Parliament establishes the Rwanda Electricity Corporation (RECO) for power and the Rwanda Water and Sanitation Corporation (RWASCO) directly charged with water provision.

Electrogaz was incorporated several decades ago to provide electricity and running water to consumers but the large parastatal can barely cope to even keep the few clients mainly in urban centers."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Economy + Public Policy

BHEL achieves breakthrough in East Africa with Maiden Entry in Rwanda

"New Delhi, Engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited BHEL has achieved one more breakthrough in international business by winning a turnkey contract for setting up a Hydro Power Project in Rwanda.

Significantly, this order for setting up the Nyaborongo Hydro Electric Power Project 2x14 MW is the first order received by BHEL from this East-African country. The company has already established its presence in a number of African nations like Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, etc.

This success in the East-African region comes close on the heels of a string of recent successes in BHEL's overseas business including maiden entries in the Syrian and Vietnamese power sectors."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Economy

Kenol/Kobil expansion in high gear

Written by Michael Omondi of The Business Daily Africa

"A Kenol petrol stationJuly 23, 2008: Kenol/Kobil has made another acquisition in the Rwandan market as it races to diversify its earnings away from the Kenyan market.

The oil marketer, through is subsidiary Kobil Rwanda, yesterday announced its buyout of STIPPAG from the Rwandese tycoon Gahunde Jean Mafutamingi for an undisclosed fee.

The deal will strengthen the oil marketer’s presence in Rwanda and give it a foothold to enter the lucrative but untapped Great lakes markets of DR Congo, Burundi and Northern Tanzania."

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Category: Rwanda + Investment + Energy + Economy

Rwanda: Electrogaz to Light Up More Homes

By Joseph Mudingu of The New Times (Kigali)

"258,000 more Rwandans will be able to get power following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance and five development partners.

Stakeholders such as MINALOC, MINISANTE, MINEDUC and agencies like RURA, REMA, RIEPA and Electrogaz witnessed the signing of the memorandum which took place on Thursday at the Ministry of Infrastructure."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy

Rwanda: Final Countdown

By Dominique Price of Focus Media (Kigali)

"The Lake Kivu methane plant should be up and running by the end of June. A team of local engineers and labourers is working alongside international contractors to put the finishing touches to Rwanda’s first underwater methane extraction plant.

After long delays and a series of tests, the US$ 15 million plant should be pumping out natural gas by the end of June, according to the site's supervisors.

"The project is coming together," says Augustin Rubayiza, Chief Engineer of Operations. "We're confident that in one month gas will be extracted." Installing on-site power generators and laying down a gas pipeline are the two remaining steps, supervisors say."

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Category" Rwanda + Energy

Rwanda: Electrogaz Partners With Tunis Company to Supply Cheap Electricity

By Edwin Musoni of The New Times

"Africa's leading electricity supply company Société Tunisienne de l'Electricité du Gaz based in Tunis, Tunisia, has signed a contract with Rwanda's Electricity and Water Utility Authority (Electrogaz) to supply cheap electricity to Rwanda.

Speaking after the signing of an agreement with the Tunis Company, the Managing Director of Electrogaz, John Mirenge, said that Electrogaz based on a number of criteria to enter into an agreement with the Tunisian company.

"First, this company is the leading electricity supplier on the continent with quality products that are competing on the international market; their electricity networking system of a MALT-single cable is also very unique, standard and cheap," said Mirenge."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Investment

G24i lights the way for homes in Rwanda

By Aled Blake, Western Mail

"NEXT-GENERATION solar manufacturer G24 Innovations (G24i) has won a grant from the World Bank to develop its technology to light homes in Rwanda.

The company, based in Wentloog on the outskirts of Cardiff, was awarded the grant in the Lighting Africa Development Marketplace awards in Ghana.

The awards aim to reward the development of products which provide the most innovative, off-grid lighting solutions for the 500 million people without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Technology + Investment

Rwanda puts hopes in methane power plant

Picture: Kivu by laparisienneavelo
By Edmund Sanders of The Los Angeles Times

"Extracting the gas from Lake Kivu's depths is a risky venture. But officials say it can help solve two problems: drain the deadly pool and provide energy to the electricity-starved nation.

With Kivu's rolling green swells and serene coastline, it's hard to imagine why this is called one of Africa's "killer lakes."Fishermen have known for more than a century about the mysterious gas that occasionally bubbles up, killing fish and sometimes swimmers.

The source, scientists say, is a massive pool of methane and carbon dioxide that lies at the bottom of the deep-water lake on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gas levels have been steadily rising, and experts warn the gases might one day explode or burst to the surface, releasing a deadly cloud similar to one that killed more than 1,700 people at Cameroon's methane-rich Lake Nyos in 1986."

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Category: Rwanda + Energy + Investment

Leading American energy giant to invest in Rwanda

BY FELLY KIMENYI of The New Times

"General Electric, a US leading energy firm, is pondering to invest in the Rwandan energy sector.

This was announced by the firm’s president and CEO, John Krenicki, following his meeting with President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro on Wednesday.

“We are impressed with the development in the country, and are interested in working together with the Rwandan government to increase power generation in the country,” Krenicki said."

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Category: Rwanda + Investment + Energy

S. Korea, Rwanda to review development policy

BY JAMES MUNYANEZA of The New Times

KIGALI - Policy officials from Rwanda and South Korea have sealed an agreement that will see the Asian industrial powerhouse integrate its development model into Rwanda’s development programmes.

According to the deal, signed by a senior official in the President’s Office, and a visiting Korean official, South Korea will help reform and strengthen Rwanda’s national polices in five key areas namely; industrial policy, investment and export promotion, human resource development, agriculture and energy.

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Category: Rwanda + Public Policy

Europe’s $10 million to bring electricity to rural Rwanda

BY GERTRUDE MAJYAMBERE AND JOHN GAHAMANYI of The New Times

"The European Union (EU) has pledged $10m (Frw7.9b) to supply rural areas with electricity.

At the ministry of finance, on January 22, James Musoni, Rwandan minister of finance and economic planning, and Ambassador Dr. David MacRea, Head of Delegation of the European Commission, signed an agreement for a new energy programme that will cost Frw14b.

The project will be financed on an equal basis by the government and the EU. Electricity will be supplied to rural health centres and schools through solar power and micro-hydro electricity plants."

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Category: Rwanda + Development

Rwanda: U.S. Company Set for Methane Gas Extraction On Lake Kivu

By Eugene Kwibuka of The New Times (Kigali)

"ContourGlobal, a U.S. energy company, is set to acquire Kibuye methane gas concessions from the government to start extractions on the high scale.

The U.S. company is currently carrying feasibility studies on Lake Kivu for methane gas."

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Category: Rwanda + Investment + Economy