Rusumo Power Company Limited (RPCL) signed two contracts, worth $75m, for the initial construction work of the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project. The power project will generate 80MW of electricity, All Africa reported.
RPCL and a consortium of contractors, including CGCOC Group Ltd, Jiangxi Water, and Hydropower Construction Company Ltd Joint Venture (CGCOC – JWHC JV) signed the first contract to provide civil work, covering the supply and installation of hydro-mechanical equipment.
While the second deal was between RPCL and a consortium of companies, including German company Rusumo Falls Andritz Hydro GmbH and Indian company Andritz Hydro PVT Ltd, for mechanical and electrical works for power generation, informed ESI Africa.
The hydroelectric project will be financed by the World Bank at a cost of $340m, with generated hydroelectric power being shared equitably among Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. The governments of the three countries have agreed to jointly develop the project and manage the hydroelectric power plant through RPCL, which is owned by the three nations.
The civil work at Rusumo site will formally start in January 2017, and take three years to complete.
The project’s transmission lines, that will connect the power plant to the national grids in the three countries, will be backed by the African Development Bank at a cost of $121m.
