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Rwanda's energy consumption and production
The few following graphs, concerning the consumptions in 1996, give an outline of the energy situation in Rwanda. As in developing countries, wood is the energy resource which is the most used and represents on its own 93 % of the energy consumption of the country.
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Figure 1 - Consumption by energy source in Rwanda in 1996 - Importance of the various energy sources (cf. source document 3.5).
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Figure 2 - Energy consumption in Rwanda in 1996 - Consumption by sector (cf. source document 3.5).
| Supply 1996 | Maximal Supply | |||
| National production | Installed power (MW) | Energy (GWh) | Installed power (MW) | Energy (GWh) |
| Mukungwa | 12.45 | 50.4 (1) | 12.45 | 48 (1) |
| Ntaruka | 11.25 | 13.96 | 11.25 | 22 |
| Gihira + Gisenyi | 3 | 7.8 | 3 | 18.2 |
| S/Total National prod. | 26.7 | 72.2 | 26.7 | 78.2 |
| Ruzizi I | 3.5 | 8.75 | 3.5 | 18.9 |
| Ruzizi II | 9 | 72.9 (2) | 9 | 46.7 (2) |
| UEB | 3 | 0.9334 | 3 | 16.2 |
| S/Total Import | 15.5 | 82.58 | 15.5 | 81.8 |
| TOTAL used | 42.2 | 154.74 | 42.19 | 160 |
Figure 3: Table of electricity productions and imports in 1996 (cf. source 3.5).
(1)-
(2) - Import higher than the agreed quota
| Supply 1998 | Supply 1999 (from January to October) | |||
| National production | Installed power (MW) | Energy (GWh) | Installed power (MW) | Energy (GWh) |
| Mukungwa | 12.45 | 75.5 | 12.45 | 59.7 |
| Ntaruka | 11.25 | 45.6 | 11.25 | 32.8 |
| Gihira + Gisenyi | 3 | 6.1 | 3 | 13.7 |
| S/Total National prod. | 26.7 | 127.2 | 26.7 | 106.2 |
| Ruzizi I | 3.5 | 15.4 | 3.5 | 13.3 |
| Ruzizi II | 9 | 43.8 | 9 | 43 |
| UEB | 3 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.77 |
| S/Total Import | 15.5 | 60.5 | 15.5 | 57.1 |
| TOTAL used | 42.2 | 187.7 | 42.2 | 163.3 |
Figure 4: Table of the electricity productions and imports in 1998/1999 (cf. source 3.6).
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Figure 5 - Maximal production and import of electricity in 1996 (cf. source 3.5).
Rwanda's total energy consumption in 1996 was only 1.35 E +6 tonnes of oil equivalent, that is 0.16 tonne of oil equivalent/inhabitant/year (at least 0.6 tonne of oil equivalent/inhabitant/year is necessary to industrialize a country!!). Oil products imported altogether only represent 5 % of the energy used, but correspond to 40 % of the export receipts. Domestic uses (lighting, kitchen, etc.) represent 92 % of the energy and industry less than 3 %.
The city of Kigali uses on its own 80 % of the total electrical energy of the country, while its population is only 5 % of Rwanda's. In fact, the few cities, which only represent 6 % of the total population, almost take the totality of the little electrical energy in the country.
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Figure 6 - Estimated demand of electricity (study carried out in 1996) (cf. source 3.5).
As regards the electricity, 4 hydroelectric power plants (Ntaruka with 11.25 MW, Mukungwa with 12.5 MW, Gihira with 1.8 MW and Gisenyi with 1.2 MW), making a total of 26.75 MW, produce electricity in Rwanda. These 4 groups produce 78.2 GWh at the maximum every year, as Gatsata's thermal power station is not operational anymore.
In 1996, Rwanda's national electricity production (72.2 GWh) hardly covered half of the consumption (154.74 GWh, that is 1 % of the total energy consumption). The necessary electricity imports were coming from Ruzizi I power plant (a power plant belonging to Congo), from Ruzizi II power plant (a community power plant belonging to Congo, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo) as well as from Uganda.
In spite of these imports, Rwanda is forced to make power cuts, which obviously signs away the economic and industrial development of the country.
| Photo J-C Scholle |
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| One of the new pacified villages "Umugudugu" or "Imidugudu" |
Electricity is distributed by a 3,500 km cabled network (in 1997), but only 2.2 % of the Rwandan population has access to it.
The average electricity consumption per inhabitant is one of the lowest in the world, with 20 kWh/inhabitant/year, which corresponds to the daily consumption of a European family!! (900 kWh/inhabitant/year if you only take into account the 2.2 % of the population which has access to electricity, that is about 150,000 inhabitants for an 8 million population) (cf. source 3.5).
These figures show the dramatic inadequacy of the national energy supply and the scale of the energy needs of the population; they nervertheless do not account for daily difficulties experienced by the country in its development and by the population in its survival (health, education...).
Paradoxically, as you will see it in the following pages, Rwanda has large energy resources, particularly (hydraulic and solar) renewable energies.
12 pages: .1. .2. .3. .4. .5. .6. .7. .8. .9. .10. .11. .12.