Technical Assistance for the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project

The Project aims to finance the construction of the Rusumo Falls hydropower plant on the Tanzanian and Rwandan border and the construction of the associated transmission lines connecting the power plant to the national grids of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. More precisely, the scope of the project consists of the construction of: (i) a 80 MW capacity hydropower plant (civil, hydro mechanical and electromechanical works and a switchyard) to be shared between the three countries; and (ii) 387 km of 220 kV transmission lines and associated substations (98.2 km in Tanzania, 161 km for 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 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, REG/EDCL (the former EWSA) and TANESCO, and the provision of procurement training for the staff of the three executing agencies.