World Bank approves access project

The World Bank Group board on 17 September approved $150m from the International Development Association (IDA) and $10m grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme for the $288m Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project in Rwanda.The IDA financing includes a $75m loan and $75m grant.The bulk of the remaining funding for the project is being provided by the French Development Agency ($80m), the Opec Fund ($20m), and the Saudi Fund for Development ($20m).

The project has four components. The largest, costing $213m will expand grid access in Burera, Gakenke, Gicumbi, Kamonyi, Karongi, Muhanga, Musanze, Ngororero, Nyabihu, Nyamasheke, Rubavu, Rulindo, Rusizi, and Rutsiro. The government aims for 52% of the population to have access to the grid by 2024, which means the Rwanda Energy Group must connect 200,000/yr between 2020 and 2024.The average cost of a new connection including backbone infrastructure is around $600-750, implying an annual funding requirement of $120-150m.

An energy efficiency component will support the $11m rehabilitation of the Ntaruka hydropower plant, installation of automatic voltage regulators and power system stabilisers ($8.5m), build a power system geographic information service ($6m), and install smart meters ($4.5m). The transmission upgrade will help prepare the country, which already suffers from high voltages during off-peak hours, for an interconnection with Uganda.

An off-grid component will provide $25m results-based financing for solar home and clean cooking systems alongside $7m results-based financing from the Clean Cooking Fund, making it the World Bank Group’s largest clean cooking programme in Africa. The government intends for 48% of the population to have access to electricity via off-grid systems by 2024, bringing total electrification to 100%. While the government has put in place a number of incentives for solar home system providers, the pace of electrification has slowed from 100,000 systems in 2016-17 to 86,000 in 2017-18 and 83,000 in 2018-19, and currently reaches around 15% of the population. This project will provide partial grants to poorer households to increase the ability to pay for systems.

Another $12m will support project implementation, technical assistance and capacity building.