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Power Africa is driving private investment in energy generation to transform the energy landscape in East and Central Africa through strategic public-private partnerships.
By supporting innovative projects like Burundi''s first solar power plant, Mubuga Solar Plant, and Kenya''s Menengai geothermal projects, we are helping to increase energy access, powering households, supporting small businesses, and promoting sustainable energy solutions.
Through these efforts, we are creating a brighter future for East and Central Africa, where reliable and sustainable energy is the cornerstone of thriving communities and economies.
Through data-driven energy planning, Rwanda is making significant strides towards its energy future, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 while satisfying forecasted demand for electricity. Power Africa is supporting the Rwanda Energy Group & Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure(MININFRA) with Rwanda''s energy goals through data, training, climate risk mitigation, forecasting, and planning.
Through this Power Africa grant, OffGridBox installed modular solar energy systems to power six off-grid healthcare facilities in Rwanda''s Nyamagabe, Kayonza, Nyagatare, and Muhanga districts – the solution providing power and clean drinking water to Gasagara healthcare center was inaugurated on March 25, 2021.
Updated: October 21, 2019
Financial Close Date: 02/17/2014Commercial Operations Date:12/31/2014Estimated Project Cost: $23.7MOverview: Power Africa partner Gigawatt Global developed this 8.5 MW solar PV power plant. A consortium including Norfund and Scatec Solar financed the solar plant with support from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) through the Africa Clean Energy Financing facility (ACEF). At the time of commissioning, the solar project was East Africa''s first utility-scale solar project to go online.
Financial Close Date: 11/01/2016Commercial Operations Date: December 2019 for the first unit (40 MW)Estimated Project Cost: $350MOverview: HQ Power, an 80 MW peat project, is located at Kabumbwe, alongside the Akanyaru river and near the border with Burundi. The $350 million project shareholders are Hakan and Power Africa partners Themis and Quantum Power. Funders are the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (Finnfund), Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank), Development Bank of Rwanda and the African Export Import Bank. Power Africa private sector partners Africa Finance Group is the mandated lead arranger for the senior debt, along with the East and Southern Africa Trade Bank.
Financial Close Date: 02/06/2017Commercial Operation Date: 12/2018Estimated Project Cost: $3.1MOverview: This brownfield run-of-river hydro power project is currently operated and maintained by Energicotel Ltd. under a 25-year concession from the Government of Rwanda. Power Africa provided support to optimize operations and assisted with commercial agreements and other transaction advisory services.
Financial Close Date: 03/31/2017Commercial Operation Date: 06/30/2017Estimated Project Cost: $30MOverview: SoEnergy, a U.S.-based firm and Power Africa partner, formed a joint venture with a Rwandan fuel supplier to build, own, and operate rental LFO thermal units totaling 30 MW in Kigali. Power Africa provided an initial draft of the power purchase agreement (PPA), with additional support provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State.
Financial Close Date: 01/23/2017Commercial Operations Date: 01/31/2018Estimated Project Cost: $15MOverview: This 2.6 MW run-of-river hydropower plant is located in the Rwaza Sector on the Mukungwa River, in Rwanda''s Musanze District. The U.S. firm DC HydroPower identified and developed the project through the feasibility stage and the signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Rwanda Energy Group. Power Africa, through U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) conducted a feasibility study. Power Africa partner ResponsAbility, along with Frontier Energy, joined DC HydroPower as investment partners during the final stages of development.
East Africa''s First Utility-Scale Solar Field Boosts Rwanda''s Electric Generation Capacity by Six Percent
(Kigali, Rwanda) - Only 12 months after the official signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Gigawatt Global has succeeded in financing, constructing and interconnecting a $23.7 million solar energy plant, culminating in a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event.
Rwanda''s Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. James Musoni, and the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Government''s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), John Morton, will lead the ribbon-cutting on Thursday, February 5, at 12:30pm of the 8.5 Megawatt (MW) solar field at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), and will be joined by international representatives of the partners that developed the landmark project.
"Top quality developers like Gigawatt Global are the keys to success for President Obama''s Power Africa Initiative," said Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of OPIC. "After OPIC provided critical early-stage support through the ACEF program, Gigawatt smoothly and swiftly brought the project online to give Rwanda enough grid-connected power to supply 15,000 homes. Gigawatt Global in Rwanda is a clear demonstration that solar will be a key part of Africa''s energy solution."
Chaim Motzen, Gigawatt Global Co-Founder and Managing Director, and the main force behind the development of the project stated, "Our project proves the viability of financing and building large-scale solar fields in sub-Saharan Africa, and we hope that this solar field serves as a catalyst for many more sustainable energy projects in the region." He continued, "The speed with which this project was completed is a tribute to the strength of the Rwandan government''s institutions and their laser-focus on increasing Rwanda''s generation capacity as well as to the nimbleness of our team and partners which spanned eight countries."
The Rwandan project is built on land owned by the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, whose mission is to care for Rwanda''s most vulnerable children orphaned before and after the Rwandan genocide. The village is leasing land to house the solar facility, the fees from which will help pay for a portion of the Village''s charitable expenses. Gigawatt Global will also be providing training on solar power to students of the Liquidnet High School on the grounds of the Youth Village.
"Anne Heyman, our Founder of blessed memory, held to a vision in which the Village practiced tikkun olam, the Jewish teaching to help heal the world. In addition to our work with Rwanda''s most vulnerable children, we''re now helping to improve the lives of thousands of people through sustainable electricity generation," said Laurie Toll Franz, ASYV''s Board Chair.
Yosef Abramowitz, President of Gigawatt Global, believes that "this utility-scale solar field at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is a symbol of hope for sub-Saharan Africa''s tens of millions of orphans and 600 million people without power, ushering in a new era of impact investing that we will hopefully be replicating throughout Africa. We want to thank President Obama and Secretary Kerry, along with our other financial partners, for the opportunity to celebrate this landmark electricity-generating project under Power Africa."
Gigawatt Global is one of almost 90 private sector partners involved in the U.S. Government''s Power Africa Initiative, which is designed to increase access to electricity throughout all of sub-Saharan Africa. By providing creative financing, business development support and commercial advocacy through various U.S. Government agencies, Power Africa represents a new model of development which facilitates the work of its partner companies in developing new energy sources, including wind, solar, hydropower, natural gas, and geothermal resources in all of sub-Saharan Africa.
"The people of Rwanda should be proud to host the first utility-scale solar power plant in East Africa, and we hope that the pioneering spirit of Rwandan authorities may serve as an inspiration to other countries in the region. The ASYV project will be an important source of clean and reliable electricity for the next 20 years and beyond, and we are proud of having made this possible in cooperation with our partners Gigawatt and Norfund," said Torstein Berntsen, Executive Vice President of Scatec Solar ASA.
Gigawatt Global''s 8.5 MW solar field in Rwanda is the first utility-scale project to reach financial close and come online under the Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) program, which is now an integral part of the Power Africa Initiative.
About Kigali utility-scale solar
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