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Rwanda To Build Huge Solar Plant

Rwanda is, regrettably, better known for the terrible acts of genocide that started back in April 1994 when, over a period of around 100 days, anything between ½ to 1 million killings took place. In the 21st century, the situation in the country improved and there is now a stable government with the country being a member of the United Nations.

Rwanda is to construct a utility scale solar plant

Rwanda is located in central/east Africa covering an area of over 10,000 square miles and has a population of around 11 million. Interestingly, its land is at high altitude with its lowest point being around 950 metres above sea level. Only a very small percentage of its population has access to electricity with a big reliance on diesel generation.

You will be interested to read that the country is going to be the first country in this part of Africa to construct a solar plant of utility scale proportions. The plant is to be built about 60 kilometres from Kigali that is the capital of Rwanda at a cost of about $24 million. Funds are coming from a variety of sources.

Having sorted out the finance it is expected that construction work will start straight away and be ready to produce solar power later in 2014. The building of the plant is being done by Scatec Solar from Norway.

Ultimately, the plant is forecast to generate 8.5 megawatts of capacity that will increase the country’s capability to produce electricity by a huge 8%. It seems hard to comprehend that back in 2008 only 6% of the population of Rwanda had access to power although by 2012 this figure had grown by 10% to 16%. The country is hoping that about 50% of the population will have access to an electricity supply by 2017.

This sounds an interesting project that will undoubtedly benefit a country whose economy is growing rapidly. We shall continue to provide updates as the scheme develops.

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