Rwanda is now harnessing methane gas, trapped in Lake Kivu, to generate electricity in the 25 MW KivuWatt power plant for some two months. Tapping the gas safely helps avoid a lethal gas release. Contour Global holds a 25-year concession to produce 100 MW from the lake – and considers expanding KivuWatt’s generating capacity.
As one of the world’s deepest lakes, Lake Kivu holds an estimated 60 Bcm of methane gas (CH4) and 300 Bcm of carbon dioxide at a water depth of 350 metres. In the rare event of a ‘Lake Overturn’ the CH4 and the CO2 come to the surface due to seismic disruption or an oversaturation of waters – with deadly consequences. An overturn event at Lake Nyos in Cameroon killed almost 2,000 people, as well as a large amount of wildlife and livestock.
Launch of the innovative KivuWatt methane gas power plant took place in mid-May, after a lengthy construction period which started back in August 2011. Three gensets currently produce 25-26 MW in a first project phase, the operator Contour Global intends to deploy nine additional gensets to step up total capacity to over 100 MW. Initial works on phase-2 are now in the making.
Combined investment for KivuWatt’s two phases is estimated to reach $325 million, of which $142 million has been earmarked for phase-1.
Symbion Power seeks permission to tap the same lake
Struggling with a power deficit, government in Kigali aims to have 563 MW of installed capacity supplying electricity to the national power grid by 2018. Electricity imports from Kenya and Ethiopia might also have to be stepped up.
Apart from the 25 MW ContourGlobal project, Symbion Power is developing a 50 MW project at the same lake.
The initial power plant to be constructed on the lake, called Kibuye Power (KP1), was led by UK energy firm Dane Associates and sought to generate 5 MW. Legal disputes with the Rwanda government have held up the KP1 project, however, pending arbitration.
While the operating costs of these gas plants are similar to any plant using pipeline gas, the Kivu projects benefit from lower cost of gas supply as there is no drilling involved.