US company Contour Global is finally set to inject 25 MW of electricity into Rwanda’s national grid after years of delay.

Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL) MD Agnes Bateta says Contour Global is expected to start generating 25 MW at the Kivuwatt project in September, following completion by Contour Global’s Rwandan subsidiary, Kivuwatt Rwanda, of Phase I of the methane gas electricity generation project on Lake Kivu, in western Rwanda. The company has so far invested $192-million in the project.

“The exploitation of methane gas in Lake Kivu is among the top priority programmes to increase electricity generation,” says Bateta.

The project, which will have a total capacity of 100 MW when completed, is crucial to the East African nation’s energy investment strategy, which seeks to increase the installed capacity from 160 MW at present to 563 MW by 2018.

Studies have shown that Lake Kivu, which covers an area of 2 370 km2, hosts deposits of dissolved methane gas estimated at two-trillion cubic feet and some 10.5-trillion cubic feet of carbon dioxide.

Located on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the Albertine rift, Lake Kivu is estimated to have the potential to generate 700 MW.

In 2009, the Rwandan government signed a 25-year concession agreement with Contour Global for the exploitation of the resource to generate electricity.

Rwanda has also awarded another US company, Symbion Power, a contract to develop a 50 MW plant on a public–private partnership basis.

Implementation of the Kivuwatt project, however, has been marred by delays related to disputes between Contour Global and its subcontractor, Civicon Kenya.

Completion of the project is critical, as it is part of key generation projects Rwanda is banking on to meet growing electricity demand. Currently, only about 20% of Rwanda’s population have access to electricity.