The Rubirizi substation is being constructed as part of the Kamanyola-Bujumbura Interconnection Project, for which the African Development Bank and the European Union are providing joint funding of $37 million.
The substation will strengthen the reliability and stability of the electricity network in Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, and will improve its flexibility of use. It will be connected to existing lines to distribute the energy produced by national power stations until the completion of the Ruzizi III station.
Scheduled for completion in December 2024, the substation will be the injection point for energy produced by the Ruzizi III regional hydroelectric power station.
As one of the least electrified countries in the world, only 10% of the Burundi population has access to electricity.
The country’s unreliable power supply not only affects the East African country’s economic development, but directly affects the businesses and livelihoods of the people of Burundi.
This project, at a total cost of $26m – will connect 25,000 households in the beneficiary towns and villages. The first connections for new customers are scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
Minister of Finance of Burundi, Audace Niyonzima (left), Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Uwizeye (right), and the African Development Bank’s Country Manager in Burundi, Pascal Yembiline (centre), during the inspection tour of the Rubirizi substation site. Image credit: African Development Bank.
A delegation from the government of Burundi and the African Development Bank visited the site on 9 August 2024, as part of a tour of electrification projects funded or co-funded by the Bank Group in Rubirizi and Kabezi in the Bujumbura Rural Province.
In Kabezi, the delegation toured electrification works comprising phase 1 of the Access to Energy Project which covers 36 locations in 11 provinces in Burundi.
The delegation included the Burundian Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Audace Niyonzima and the Minister of Water, Energy and Mines, Ibrahim Uwizeye.
Burundi is heavily reliant on donor support with its most pressing issue being addressing the unreliable power supply.
In 2021, Burundi reportedly had an electricity access rate of 10.23%, a 1.13% increase from 2020.
Burundi reportedly has an existing generation capacity of 34MW, according to Power Africa.
Hydroelectric power represents 95% of Burundi’s total electricity production. The country also uses energy from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and coal power plants.
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