RWANDA GETS RWINDALECTRIC

Rwindalectric's wind turbines would add 10 to 50 megawatts of power for rural communities to Rwanda’s overburdened, underdeveloped energy supply. The undertaking grew out of a high school discussion about tolerance at which the audience decided to stop talking and take action. The discussion leader is now a member of Rwindalectric’s board.

The number of places the wind towers can be built and the number of people Rwindalectric can serve depends on the funding it can find. The organization depends on donations. The World Bank is interested. Other donors are needed.

Rwanda is working hard to beat its energy shortage. In the earliest phase of the shortage, the government brought in gas-fueled “mega-generators” which allayed the problem until skyrocketing oil prices made that energy too costly. There are 2 other wind energy projects in Rwanda, one pumping water in a semi arid eastern province and one in Kigali putting electricity into the grid. There is also a big German-funded solar plant near Kigali and a methane project at Lake Kivu. Meanwhile, Rwanda is buying electricity from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and from Uganda.

The energy shortage situation in Rwanda is a slightly more extreme version of what is going on in South Africa. The situation may seem distant and unreal to westerners but if U.S. leaders continue to push fossil fuels and ignore New Energy in the face of climate change, rising competition for and dwindling supplies of energy, it could be an all-too-real version of the future.

click to enlarge

Rwanda: Alternative Energy – Electricity From Wind Starts Running in 12 Months
07 February 2008, (Rwanda News Agency via AllAfrica)

WHO
Jackson Ndizeye, Rwindalectric founder; Albert Butare, Energy Minister, Rwanda

WHAT
Ndizeye’s Rwindalectric is preparing to install small wind farms in rural Rwandan communities to alleviate coutnry’s severe energy shortage.

WHEN
- Energy shortages have plagued Rwanda since 2004.
- The project will begin with a $50,000 12 month feasibility study.
- The Data Logger wind measurement eauipment will be installed by June 2008.

Africa has good wind resources in some regions. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- The Data Logger will measure wind potential at a height of 60 meters.
- Drought-induced water level drops at Rwanda’s Lakes Burera and Rulindo have led to fall-offs in hydro power produced at Ntaruka dam and Mukunga dam.
- Kenya’s WindCruise program is similar to what Rwindalectric wants to do.

WHY
- The energy shortage, at times as much as 40%, requires load shedding by the national grid: When one business or industrial source of energy consumption comes on, another must be dropped.
- The situation has led to businesses and factories using gas generators which, as the price of oil rises, becomes more and more problematic.
- Hydro power at Ntaruka dam fell from 11.25 megawatts (MW) to 2.5 (MW). Mukunga dam production dropped from 12.5 (MW) to 5 MW.
- Placing the Data Logger is Phase 1 of the Rwindalectric project. Rwandans will also be taught how to build small wind for themselves.

Better mapping of Rwanda's region needs doing. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Ndizeye: "The total cost of this equipment is around $15,750. Our organization has already purchased the most important component of the equipment, the Data Logger, and has enough funds to buy most of the remaining components…We are organizing a fundraising campaign to purchase the most expensive of these components, a 60 meter tower, which costs $12,800… we will ship the whole equipment to Rwanda to start operation".
- Butare, Rwanda Energy Minister: "Despite this additional thermal generation, it is clear that the country is still in deficit and there is pressing need to conclude public-private partnership agreements and avail electricity if we want to market Rwanda as an investment destination…"
- Ndizeye: "These small scale wind turbines can be installed on certain facilities, such as medical centers, in very remote locations in rural Rwanda…As far as sustaining our projects in Rwanda, we have a plan to work with rural community banking systems and international donors such as the World Bank and UNDP, to name a few…"