Rwanda Secures $214 mln China Loan for Hydropower Plant

KIGALI, Feb 7  - Rwanda secured a $214 million loan from China’s Export-Import Bank (EximBank)to build a new 43.5 megawatts hydropower plant that will help it reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources and stabilise the grid, the government said on Friday.

“In addition to the current 224 MW generation capacity, combined with the pipeline of power projects, [Nyabarongo II Hydropower] will increase grid generation capacity to an estimated 513.5 MW,” Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana said in a statement.

The project will take nearly five years to complete and the cash will also be used to build a substation and 110KV transmission line covering 19.2 km from the plant to the Rulindo substation located in the north, the statement added.

The terms of the loan were not given. (Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyinana; Editing by Omar Mohammed and Andrew Cawthorne)