DR Congo: Virunga hydro station ready by year-end

The Virunga National Park will be able to generate a total of 13MW by year-end with the expected inauguration of a second hydropower station financed by the US Howard G Buffett Foundation. The aim of the promoters is to show that the park can provide viable economic alternatives to planned oil exploitation. The 12.6MW Matebe-Rudahiga hydropower station on the Rutshuru River, financed by the foundation with up to $19.7m, is the second hydropower plant in the park, following the January 2014 inauguration of the much smaller 0.4MW Mutwanga hydropower station financed by the European Union (EU).