New Shango power substation in Kigali will facilitate access to Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DRC

The African Development Bank has joined hand with the KfW Development Bank, Embassy of Germany in Rwanda and the Rwandan government to inaugurate the high voltage 188 MVA Shango power substation in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.

The substation is part of the NELSAP Regional Interconnection Project involving Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Rwandan component, at an estimated cost of 111.03 million euros, involves the construction of 286 kilometres of 220 KV lines, three substations and the upgrade of two substations. The African Development Fund, part of the African Development Bank Group, contributed 38 million euros (about 34 percent) of the total project cost.

The Shango substation has been designed to play an integral role in the management of electricity dispatching services in Rwanda and a routing node for electricity trading between the East African neighbors. It is in line with the African Development Bank’s High 5 priorities, Light Up and Power Africa and Integrate Africa.

The African Development Bank’s Country Manager in Rwanda, Martha Phiri extoled the strong cooperation that the Bank continues to enjoy with the Rwandan government. The energization of the Shango substation and related network will facilitate the country’s access to excess power of nearly 1,040 MW from the regional market, reducing reliance on expensive fossil-fuel generated power.

“This would eventually benefit the people and industries in Rwanda through increased availability, reliability of clean power and possible reduction in electricity tariffs,” Martha Phiri cited.