22 million Euros ‘Prepaid Energy project to illuminate Rwanda
Posted on : Wednesday, 19th November 2014
The Rwamagana District welcomed minstrels and local authorities for the official launch of the ‘Prepaid Energy’ project, The New Times reported.
The project was implemented to provide many households in the Eastern Province with sufficient and reliable power.
The initiative was funded by the European Union (EU), the Government of Rwanda and Mobisol, a local solar power firm who formed a partnership to promote access to clean energy which reliable.
Their goal is to electrify 49 000 households and 1 000 schools in the East African region, local media reported.
Michael Ryan the EU ambassador to Rwanda, , and Germaine Kamayirese, the Minister of State for Energy, Water and Sanitation at the Ministry of Infrastructure are some of who attended the official launch which took place at the Umunini Village, Rwamagana, local media reported.
With the goal of reaching 645 000 recipients in 4 years, 50 000 top quality solar systems will need to be contracted and installed, media reported.
The project forecast is set at 22 million Euros of which the EU will contribute 6 million, Ambassador Ryan said.
‘We commend the government in its efforts to reduce poverty and transform the lives of citizens. This can be consolidated through increased access to sustainable energy. The EU is proud to be associated with such an innovative project’, he said.
With the goal of electrifying low-income households in Rwanda, Mobisol is dedicated to providing a consumer centric and easy system for this to happen, said Thomas Gottschalk, Managing Director of Mobisol.
Gottschalk said that a ‘mobile money payment plan’ had been designed to facilitate the easy use of the system, media reported.
Mobisol would provide a turn-key service for three years, he added.
‘This project will make a difference in people’s lives. It paves way for sustainable ecological and economic development. Rwanda indeed has the historic opportunity to leapfrog costly electrical grid systems and environmentally damaging fossil fuels and become a model for a sustainable renewable energy future worldwide’, he said.
‘We are happy to join forces to bring power to thousands of Rwandans’, Gottschalk said.
The project’s objective is to increase local connectivity from the current 22 percent to 70 percent, Minister Kamayirese said.
‘We shall use other sources like solar energy and not depend entirely on the national grid’, she said.
