While three countries in the East African Community, namely Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania, have a low rate of access to electricity, the Rusumo Falls hydroelectric dam project initiated by NELSAP will increase the rate of connection to electricity for the inhabitants of this community and boost the economic activity of small and medium enterprises.
It is just 10 o’clock in the morning. A sunny blue sky illuminates the car parking lot in the city of Gitega. Passengers come and go, jostling each other. Approximately 200 meters from the car park, near the old Burundi granaries, electric pylons in the colors of the national flag set the scene. A large billboard of the Indian company Kalpatar, which has carried out the construction of a new substation that will accommodate the electricity coming from Tanzania, is to be seen on the National Road 15.
We are finally there, inside this huge substation of the Zege power grid. Electrical equipment waits for the alternators in Rusumo Falls to produce current to transmit it to other stations in Burundi.
A long chain of vertical supports carrying the conductors of a high-voltage line called pylons in the colors of the national flag crosses the provinces of Gitega (Zege), Karusi and Muyinga. They are built on an area of 161 kilometers from Rusumo Falls to the Gitega substation of the power plant to the respective centers in Burundi, that of Zege and that of Muyinga in Kobero in Burundi.
The Rusumo Falls Dam is located in Tanzania, while the substation is on the north side of the river in Rwanda. This dam will generate a total of 80 megawatts that will be distributed equitably among the three countries that make up the Kagera River basin. Burundi will receive 26 megawatts, of which 22 megawatts will be transported to Gitega and 4 megawatts will remain at the Muyinga substation.
Will Burundi no longer need to import electricity?
The birth of new cities and industrialization resulting from demographic pressure and the absence of an abundant energy production strategy mean that the number of energy production overall infrastructures in Burundi is low. Hence the electricity connection in Burundi is decreasing.
The obsolescence of the hydroelectric power plants disrupts the connection. Burundi has a low rate of access to electricity. It is ranked at the bottom of the pack in the EAC region, as current access to electricity is 37,70% in Tanzania, 37,78 % in Rwanda and 11,7% in Burundi. As a result, electricity is imported from the Great Lakes region.
Thus, Burundi has only three sources of domestic energy, namely fossil fuels, hydropower and renewable energy. However, national energy production reached a significant peak in 2010. It increased to the highest level from 142.01 megawatts in 2010 to 256 megawatts in 2019. Additionally, energy importation decreased, but at the lowest level. It decreased from 104 megawatts in 2011 to 82 megawatts in 2019.
The country imports electricity to meet the growing demand. Most of the energy is imported from The National Electricity Company (SNEL) from DRC and the International Electricity Company of the Great Lakes Countries (Sinelac) DRC. Burundi has been characterized by a chronic shortage of energy in general and electrical energy in particular, as a result of the effects of the crisis triggered in 1993, more than 20 years of underinvestment in the electricity sector and the ever-increasing demand for energy.
These problems have led to the current situation, characterized by a large deficit of energy supply in relation to demand. There is an estimated deficit of 12.9 megawatts during the rainy season and 23.5 megawatts during the dry season. The infrastructure for the transmission and distribution of electrical energy have also become obsolete, resulting in numerous blackouts and rationing of the current. This has a negative impact on artisanal and industrial activities, which are the most conducive to economic growth.
Will partner countries benefit from Rusumo Falls?
The Rusumo Falls Regional Hydropower Project implemented by NELSAP will benefit the three countries of Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi. It was initially expected to take three years (2013–2016) to build the hydropower project. As NELSAP is concerned, activities have been delayed due to donor delays. It is from 2019 that the first phase of the dam weir, the tunnel of the upstream canal, the excavation work of the power plant, the leak channel, the excavation of the departure post and the residential camp of the Rusumo Power Company Limited (RPCL) are on the right track. According to Dr. Gaspard Bikwemu, the activities of the construction of Rusumo Falls will be completed in 2023.
These benefits go directly to farmers who live near the Rusumo hydropower project. A total of 36 localities in eleven provinces of Burundi will be covered by the project, which will include more than 26,000 new grid connections as well as a reinforcement of 60 transformer substations currently overloaded to reduce energy losses and undistributed energy, thus increasing the reliability of the power supply.
According to the World Bank, just 11 percent of Burundi’s population were connected to electricity as of 2019. With the Rusumo hydropower project, it is expected that Burundians connected to electricity could increase to 16.4 percent. According to NELSAP, the additional electricity will benefit approximately 1.1 million people in the three countries and increase electricity access rates by 5.4% (520,000 people) in Burundi, 4 percent (467,000 people) in Rwanda and 0.34 percent (159,000 people) in Tanzania.
The Burundian Association of Consumers (ABUCO) says it is satisfied with the step taken by Burundi in terms of energy production. Noël Nkurunziza, the representative of ABUCO, said that the contributions of Rusumo Falls to the reduction of energy disparities in Burundi in the coming days are to be welcomed. He said that the power cuts that are observed in these days will no longer be because of electricity in the province of this new project.
Noël Nkurunziza also adds that the number of agri-food processing companies will be doubled because of the increase in electricity. He cites, for example, juice processing and milk storage units.
Nevertheless, this representative of ABUCO says that much still needs to be done in the energy field. He points out, for example, the fact that the national development plan calls for large-scale extraction of minerals to boost the national economy, which requires a very large amount of energy. In addition, the associated economic activities associated with urbanization generate an unequal need for current demand. This means that people with lower income who start projects such as dairies, soldering and carpenter’s shops will be in need of power. It will also help them to invest and undertake in other sectors to improve their way of living. Hospitals are also expected to benefit from the power, reducing the number of premature babies who die in incubators due to the lack of power.
Noël Nkurunziza concluded that the Burundian government should take the energy sector as the top priority, because socio-economic development depends on it.
What about agriculture?
According to Dr. Gaspard Bikwemu, environmental officer at the Rusumo hydropower project, this project will contribute in different sectors to people close to the Rusumo project in Kirehe district, such as education, health, economy, business and agriculture. Farmers will receive enough water from new dams constructed through the project for irrigation to increase their crops.
Bertin Rwagatore, is a farmer from Rusumo village, Kiyanzi cell, Nyamugari sector in Kirehe district, eastern Rwanda. He said: “In this area we have a water problem in general, due to the lack of water, we draw water from the Akagera River, both domestic and drinking water. [With new dams], we would not have run out of drinking water and found irrigation water for our plants.”
Laurence Uwamariya is a farmer from the village of Rusumo, Rwanda. She said they expect more benefits from the Rusumo project’s services, especially in agriculture using irrigation to increase their crops. “Our hope is based on the dams we will have after Rusumo Hydropower’s construction activities,” she said.
Arthur Bigirumwami, a farmer in Muyinga, northern Burundi, is also hopeful to be able to increase his crops. “We used to cultivate two seasons. We are lucky; Rusumo Falls will help us much. Because of irrigation we’ll cultivate three seasons. The production of rice and vegetables will increase.”Since 2017, the Burundian government, through MINEAGRI, has developed strategies to increase agricultural production by reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
According to Leonidas Rivuzimana, Provincial Director of Agriculture and Livestock in Kirundo, the irrigation system in this region has built 6 hydro-agricultural dams, i.e. one large dam and 5 small hydro-agricultural dams. This infrastructure, among the most modern, includes a dam for mobilizing irrigation water of more than 1,300,000 m³ and a pumping station, in order to ensure a total control of water resources in case of drought or flooding of plots. In total, nearly 250,000 people are expected to benefit from the project. MINEAGRI indicates that there are three dams in these provinces and that the project will be extended to other provinces.
“These dams will have enough water and will help us in irrigation.” Bertin Rwagatore, is a resident of Rusumo Cell in Rwanda. He said that as farmers, they have the opportunity to improve their agriculture. “We expect to be rich in five years thanks to agriculture as our main resource. During the dry season, we will grow and use irrigation differently than in the past, because in the past we only grew during the rainy season, it stopped falling and we didn’t get enough produce, but now we will always produce enough water for irrigation.”
In 2017, these inhabitants of Rusumo village in Kirehe district, Rwanda used to have dams that were helping them in irrigation, but after a few months, the dams dried up. Because of the problems encountered, they are concerned about the drying up of dams after the construction of the Rusumo hydroelectric project.
However, Dr Gaspard Bikwemu, environment manager at Rusumo hydropower project, said there was no concern about the Rusumo dams drying up as the waterfall will carry a huge amount of water which will not not allow the dams to dry up. The waterfall is 13 meters wide and 20 meters high.
Bertin Rwagatore, is a farmer from Rusumo village, Kiyanzi cell, Nyamugari sector in Kirehe district, eastern Rwanda. He said: “In this area we have a water problem in general, due to the lack of water, we draw water from the Akagera River, both domestic and drinking water. [With new dams], we would not have run out of drinking water and found irrigation water for our plants.”
Laurence Uwamariya is a farmer from the village of Rusumo, Rwanda. She said they expect more benefits from the Rusumo project’s services, especially in agriculture using irrigation to increase their crops. “Our hope is based on the dams we will have after Rusumo Hydropower’s construction activities,” she said.
Arthur Bigirumwami, a farmer in Muyinga, northern Burundi, is also hopeful to be able to increase his crops. “We used to cultivate two seasons. We are lucky; Rusumo Falls will help us much. Because of irrigation we’ll cultivate three seasons. The production of rice and vegetables will increase.”
Since 2017, the Burundian government, through the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (MINEAGRI), has developed strategies to increase agricultural production by reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
Environmental impacts to be felt by the citizens of partner countries
The expected impacts on the people affected by the project vary from the loss of residential structures, agricultural land, and loss of marsh use. Residents of Kagera in Tanzania, Kirehe in Rwanda, and Muyinga in Burundi where the project is being implemented, say some of their expectations for the benefits of the project have been in vain. Households compensated in Burundi are 105.
Joseph Havyarimana, a farmer from Kobero in Butihinda commune, Muyinga province, said there was a poor relationship between the power company, the host community and other stakeholders. “We really admired the money we got as housing constructions; however the plot lands will remain insufficient for our agriculture,” he said. He shares this viewpoint with Suzane Bagimbi, a farmer from Muhushi in Muyinga commune.
Antoine Ndayisaba, a farmer from the village of Mugutu, in Gitega province, said he relied on the housing construction allowance received from Rusumo. But, as for the rural compensation received on the plot occupied by a pylon of 15×15 meters, he realizes that 200,000 BIF (USD $98) is little to have another replacement plot. He asks that the Rusumo project be able to review this sum in order to help to have a sum that can help them find a plot of the same size.
How the project will impact wildlife
According to the Multinational – Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project – ESIA Summary a total of 1,041 pylons (towers for carrying electric cables) will be built for the entire line – 334 in Rwanda, 414 in Tanzania and 293 in Burundi. Each will require 10.4 hectares of land for foundations.
In addition, five new substations will be built, each taking up 2.3 hectares of land. One substation located in Gitega, Burundi, will be expanded. The pylons and posts will therefore occupy a total of 24,081 hectares that will be lost as agricultural and forest land or as pasture.
According to Emmanuel Niyoyabikoze, a specialist in the Burundi Environmental Protection Authority, the project itself is beneficial for Burundi in that it will contribute to the availability of electricity in rural areas.
However, some wildlife living in deforested areas will no longer be able to survive, including rabbits, snakes, frogs and other species, he said.
“Some of the wild animals will be missed. Their habitats have been cleared. Some will seek refuge in other areas so far off the Akagera River Valley, while others will starve to death,” Niyoyabikoze said.
According to this specialist, if nothing is done, the project’s activities may have permanent impacts on the environment such as the loss of vegetation including trees and shrubs in the right-of-way of transmission lines, which will lead to the destruction of habitats for animals that live on land.
The Rusumo Project was built on an area of about 800 square meters. According to Dr. Gaspard Bikwemu, an Environmental Officer at Rusumo Project, the aquatic organisms were disturbed, but not too much because the project was built at a high altitude of 13 by 20 meters.
“The biodiversity like fish, frogs, and snakes will move to other places, because water will be reduced in that area. Fish production will be reduced as fishers move to a nearby area where the [project] is being built as the existing species also migrate to other areas,” Dr. Bikwemu said.
Niyoyabikoze points out that the project will also have consequences for agriculture and livestock. These include soil erosion and soil contamination by waste from the accidental spill of oil or other toxic wastes. This can also lead to degradation of water quality and lack of fodder for domestic animals, he said.
To combat all of these problems, Niyoyabikoze, as an environmentalist, said that the government in collaboration with NELSAP should implement a specific reforestation programme to allow the restoration of the landscape in the area of influence of the project in order to regain the trees.
In addition, the Burundian Environmental Authority, in collaboration with the authorities of the region, should require the developer to provide other policies for vegetation replanting and land management planning, including reforestation, agricultural extension, decontamination of materials and soils, and recycling of hazardous materials.
Niyoyabikoze stresses that compensation for affected populations is also an important element to be taken into account during the various phases of the project in order to avoid conflicts that could hinder the proper implementation of the project.
Developers and project analysts said the Rusumo Falls Regional Hydroelectric Project will reduce dependence on firewood, as the majority of the rural population in the three countries continues to rely heavily on coal or firewood, whether they have access to electricity or not.
This story was produced by InfoNile in partnership with Code For Africa, funded by JRS Biodiversity Foundation.
Reporting By Ferdinand Mbonihankuye, Editing and Communication by Annika MacGinnis and Fredrick Mugira