Rwanda/Burundi/Tanzania: Contracts signed for Rusumo Falls hydro

Construction of the 80MW Rusumo Falls hydropower project is set to begin early next year following the signing of contracts in early November for the civil works and supply of hydroelectrical and electromechanical equipment. The run-of-river project is to be built on the Kagera River, along Rwanda’s border with Tanzania, just downstream of the tripoint where the two countries share a common border with Burundi. It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2019. The contracts, with a combined value of $121.6m, were signed by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme on behalf of Rusumo Power Company Limited, the future tri-national owner-operator of the plant.