Technical Assistance for the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project
- Region
- Eastern Africa
- Sector
- Energy
- Scope
- TA
- Grant Amount
- EUR 250,000
- Total project cost
- EUR 369m
- Status
- Under disbursment
- PFG Lead Financier
- AFDB
This project concerns the construction of the Rusumo Falls hydropower plant on the Tanzanian-Rwandan border as well as the construction of the associated transmission lines connecting the power plant to the national grids of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. More specifically, the project consists of the construction of: (i) an 80 MW capacity hydropower plant (civil, hydro-mechanical and electro-mechanical works, a switchyard) to be shared between the three countries; and (ii) 378 km of 220 kV transmission lines and associated substations (98.2 km in Tanzania, 161 km in Burundi and 119 km in Rwanda).
The Regional Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project will play a key role in enhancing economic and social development in the region and in increasing regional power generation, while establishing and accelerating the volume of cross-border energy exchanges. The project is part of the Priority Action Plan (the project and programme list for short and medium-term implementation) under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
The progress on implementation so far are:-
The EPC contracts for the dam and power plant construction were signed in 9 November 2016 and the contractors have mobilized to the project site. The planned commissioning date for the first turbine/generator is in October 2019.
The transmission line construction are expected to be ready by April 2019, which is at least six month ahead of the power plant.
The EU-AITF technical assistance grant finances the recruitment of an international consultant to handle the procurement process in collaboration with the project implementation agencies, REGIDESO, EWSA and TANESCO, and the provision of procurement training for the staff of the three executing agencies.
This is critical for a timely start-up of the project procurement activities and hence for the achievement of the benefits associated with the project in terms of regional and economic development. The contract with the selected individual procurement consultant was signed in March 2015 and the consultant has started has completed its assignment, which are assisting the implementing agencies in the preparation of Terms of Reference, Request for Proposals for recruitment of project engineering and supervision consultant, shortlisting of consulting firms, evaluation of proposals, preparation of contract documents, negotiation with the recommended consulting firm and contract signing.
12/2016
