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State utility Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso) has given a joint venture of Italy’s CMC di Ravenna and Egypt’s Orascom Construction a contract for the construction of the Jiji and Mulembwe hydropower plants with a combined installed capacity of 48MW. The contract, valued at €67.8m ($75.94m), was signed on 17 October, according to a notice published on the World Bank’s project and procurement website.

State-owned utility Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso) has launched an international tender to connect the Rusumo Falls hydropower plant on the Kagera River to the national grid. Bids are sought by 4 December for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a 220kV line linking the Rusumo Falls plant via the northern city of Muyinga to the central city of Gitega, a 30kV line between Musasa and Muyinga, and substations at Gitega and Muyinga.

Energie des Grands Lacs (EGL), the energy agency of the three-nation Great Lakes Economic Community (CEPGL), invites prequalification applications by 26 November to support the development of the Ruzizi III hydropower plant on the Ruzizi River, which forms the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. The 147MW run-of-river project will be financed, built and operated by a consortium in a public-private partnership under a 25-year concession.

Rusumo Power Company Limited (RPCL) invites expressions of interest by 14 May from consulting firms to assist with the development of a business plan. The 80MW Rusumo Falls run-of-river project, which is being built on the Kagera River along Rwanda’s border with Tanzania, just downstream of the tri-point where the two countries share a border with Burundi, is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020. Output is to be shared equally between the three neighbours.

US-owned Dutch developer Gigawatt Global on 19 July announced that a solar street lighting initiative had launched in Bujumbura, ahead of its commercial-scale solar plant starting up by end-2017. Solar street lights have been installed in the central bus station and nearby marketplace. “This project will enhance security as well as provide opportunities for economic development to the citizens of Bujumbura,” a Gigawatt statement quoted mayor Freddy Mbonimpa as saying.

Construction of the 80MW Rusumo Falls hydroelectric project in Rwanda is under way following an official groundbreaking ceremony held on 30 March. The run-of-river project 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, is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020, with output to be shared equally between the countries.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place on 18 January for a 7.5MW solar park being developed by Gigawatt Global at Mubuga, 100km east of Bujumbura (AE 287/6). The US-owned Dutch developer described the $14m project as the largest private international investment in the power sector in Burundi in nearly 30 years. Power will be sold for 25 years to state power and water utility Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso). Construction and connection to the national grid is expected to be concluded in Q4 2017.

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.

Swala Oil and Gas (Tanzania) has bought Surestream Petroleum (Burundi), which holds 100% in Block D covering part of Lake Tanganyika. The transaction gives Surestream a 6.25% stake in Swala. The block is partly onshore and partly offshore, and covers portions of the northern end of Lake Tanganyika, an area where oil seeps, slicks and tar balls have been reported. “The Burundi licence is a very prospective licence and its development will be helped by the nearby route of the proposed Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline,” said Swala chief executive David Mestres Ridge.

The power sector has been hit by suspension of European funding amid a worsening political crisis, but China continues to play a role. On 26 August, energy and mines minister Côme Manirakiza announced the signing of an agreement with China on a construction schedule for a 17MW hydropower station on the Ruzibazi River. Works should begin in August 2017 and be completed in 2021. A prefeasibility study for the project was carried out by Fichtner in 1983, and the construction contract is expected to be awarded to China’s CGC Overseas Construction Group.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on 18 May announced that it had signed a bilateral agreement with the German government for German development bank KfW to provide a €15m grant for the 147MW Ruzizi III hydropower project. The $650m project is being developed by the Agha Khan’s Industrial Promotion Services and US developer Sithe Global, under a contract awarded in 2014, and will supply Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda with 49MW each.

A request for proposals (RfP) for the transmission lines component of the 80MW Rusumo Falls hydroelectric power plant on the Kagera River is due to be released in June, according to a general procurement notice issued by the African Development Bank, which is contributing $113m to the project. The RfP is for the construction of transmission lines to evacuate around 448GWh/yr from the facility to Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Gigawatt Global has secured grant funding from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for a feasibility study for a planned 7.5MW solar photovoltaic power plant at Mubuga in central Burundi. USTDA said on 30 March that the grant funds would cover a study of key technical and economic aspects, and environmental and social impact assessments, and provide the necessary analysis for the developers to secure financing. Gigawatt signed a memorandum of understanding with the government for the project in July 2014.

State power and water utility Régie de Production et de Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso) has invited prequalification applications by 31 March for the construction of the 32MW Jiji and 17MW Mulembwe hydropower projects in southern Burundi. According to the tender notice published on 23 February, Regideso expects to launch a formal tender procedure in June. The two stations, on the Jiji and Mulembwe rivers, will be located about 3.75km apart and will almost double Burundi’s installed capacity.

Developer Gigawatt Global has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy and Mines for a 7.5MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. The company, which has an 8.5MW solar plant in neighbouring Rwanda, hopes the project will help fill the gap between supply and demand and reduce reliance on costly diesel. Burundi is set to receive power from the Ruzizi III and Ruzizi IV regional hydro schemes, but the 147MW Ruzizi III, from which Burundi will receive 49MW, is not expected to start up before 2020, with Ruzizi IV after that.