Focus Media (Kigali)
Timothy Kisambira
12 November 2008
It was Thursday last week that Rwanda learnt for sure that the methane gas in the Kivu can be harnessed to produce electricity. A seemingly impossible dream had come true.
Minister Albert Butare: "What was very important is trying out the extraction of gas." (photo Timothy Kisambira)
Rwanda has successfully harnessed one of its few natural resources to address an urgent national problem-the problem of shortage of electricity.
The power is generated by a new 12 million Euro (Frw 10.6 billion) plant built by Ludan Technologies of Israel and its use in Rwanda marks the first time electricity from methane gas goes into commercial production.
The plant is a pilot and it can generate a maximum of 5 megawatts but work still is underway to make it produce that. Currently however it is sending 1.8 megawatts into the Electrogaz grid and this is something few thought would be possible just a few months back.
The state minister for energy Albert Butare told Focus that of the 6 generators at the pilot plant each one can produce 1.3 megawatts.
The minister said Lake Kivu has the potential of producing700 megawatts in a minimum period of 55 years but the gas will continue to reproduce itself to about 200 and 250 cubic meters annually that means after those years Rwanda can extract 350 megawatts, and then continue extracting electricity for 55 years.
Some of the gas is stored for possible use in such things as gas cookers. The storage is another high technology which is different from the process of producing power, Butare said adding that like now the flow rate is over 500 kgs of gas that is being consumed per hour, and to get all that gas and compress it and store it is a very complicated process. "But we are laying plans to compress it and put it in the cylinders so that people use it for cooking."
Hard struggle
Rwanda is consuming electricity from the Kivu thanks to the relentless determination of President Kagame. "We thank the President for his lead role in daring to try out what had failed before," said Butare. "We received instructions and the activities started in 2002 while the final operations started in June last year.
"That is when we signed the agreement with the Israelites and until 15 May of this year, is when we extracted and flared the first gas from the lake," the minister told Focus.
He further explained that the first gas was not very clean as required by the machine but still it was something to celebrate.
According to the minister this was the first step to success. "The world was wondering how we were going to do it and leave the lake safe and we did it yet the lake was not affected at all," said Butare continuing.
After the gas was flared in May the Ludan Technologies engineers went a step ahead to extract gas of the quality required to generate power. "The struggle was hard and different experts had to be consulted until last month when we obtained the required quality," Minister Butare said.
According to him the plant now has the capacity of producing 100 percent quality gas. "The more you extract much content of gas the more you reduce on the flow rate to the generators, so there is need to balance it," he said.
The machine requires a minimum of 70 percent which they balance and it is put on 500 kgs per hour which effectively runs in the machines. Butare said that about 1.8 megawatts have been sent into the Electogaz grid. He explained that machines are tuned to a certain rate so that the people operating on the extraction plant in the lake can communicate with the Electogaz personnel who measure the frequency so that everything is balanced.
Guidelines
For some few days the engineers say they are going to be working on stabilizing the machines, but the gas the plant produces now is more than enough for the entire Rubavu district.
He also says that they have signed different agreements and that they are in the final stage with one American company that will be extracting 100 megawatts and that has met all the requirements including environmental impact assessment certificates. They will start with a 25.5 megawatt plant.
Another project is one by the Rwanda Investment Group (RIG) and a Nairobi-based company, Industrial Production Services.
"What was very important is trying out the extraction of gas. Other processes are simple" says Butare adding that they have a monitoring group at Kivu and experts that stay in Kivu and keep watching the behavior of the lake and the generation of gas and it is the same team that will monitor different companies that will extract the gas.
Last year the government put in place a network of experts and established guidelines for everybody who will extract gas, meaning there are measurements of gas every company can extract. Soon a validation meeting to confirm the guidelines will take place.
"This is a memorable day in the history of this country, to see that the gas that has been in this lake for thousands of years and nobody thought of extracting it; to see today that it can produce electricity is indeed great and applause has to go to the government and the technicians," said Electogaz Director John Mirenge.
He says that Electogaz has been paying a million Euros on diesel fuel to produce a mere 5 megawatts, but now they are going to get the 5 megawatts and much much more from the gas.
Another important benefit of the plant will be conservation of the environment- electricity from methane will be clean while diesel fuel pollutes.
"This is also a great event in terms of national energy security," said a euphoric Mirenge who added, "it is important to note that fuel costs will go down after a fully fledged project comes to life and the problem of oil crisis will be partly solved," he said.
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