Journal of Energy and Natural Resources

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Current Overview of Renewable Energy Resources in Rwanda

Received: 22 June 2016    Accepted: 04 July 2016    Published: 21 January 2017
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Abstract

This paper reviews the energy sector in Rwanda with an accent on Renewable Energy. In Rwanda, energy sector plays a vital role in supporting socio-economic evolution and has a close connection to the growth of other economic sectors. The country has both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Energy policies of the country give special attention to the use of modern, clean and energy efficient technologies. Most of Electricity in Rwanda comes from renewable sources: The total currently installed electricity capacity is 160 MW (March 2015), of which approximately more than 60% comes from hydrological resources along with other indigenous sources and less than 40% comes from diesel-powered generators. The current on-grid access to electricity is estimated at 23% of households and off-grid is 1.5%. Rwanda has envisaged increasing electric power supply by maximizing use of various indigenous energy resources and reach its ambitious target of 563 MW (domestic generation + imports) with electricity access of 70% (on-grid and off-grid) by the end of 2018. However, several challenges laying behind the development in the electric energy sector and utilization of renewable energy resources should be addressed. Challenges to be tackled and measures to be taken to achieve this goal have been presented in this study.

DOI 10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13
Published in Journal of Energy and Natural Resources (Volume 5, Issue 6, December 2016)
Page(s) 92-97
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Renewable Energy, Electricity Generation, Electricity Access, Challenges

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda; Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, ?ukurova University, Adana, Turkey

  • Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, ?ukurova University, Adana, Turkey

  • Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, ?ukurova University, Adana, Turkey

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  • APA Style

    Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana, Ahmet Teke, Turgay Ibrikci. (2017). Current Overview of Renewable Energy Resources in Rwanda. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources, 5(6), 92-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13

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    ACS Style

    Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana; Ahmet Teke; Turgay Ibrikci. Current Overview of Renewable Energy Resources in Rwanda. J. Energy Nat. Resour. 2017, 5(6), 92-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13

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    AMA Style

    Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana, Ahmet Teke, Turgay Ibrikci. Current Overview of Renewable Energy Resources in Rwanda. J Energy Nat Resour. 2017;5(6):92-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13,
      author = {Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana and Ahmet Teke and Turgay Ibrikci},
      title = {Current Overview of Renewable Energy Resources in Rwanda},
      journal = {Journal of Energy and Natural Resources},
      volume = {5},
      number = {6},
      pages = {92-97},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20160506.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jenr.20160506.13},
      abstract = {This paper reviews the energy sector in Rwanda with an accent on Renewable Energy. In Rwanda, energy sector plays a vital role in supporting socio-economic evolution and has a close connection to the growth of other economic sectors. The country has both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Energy policies of the country give special attention to the use of modern, clean and energy efficient technologies. Most of Electricity in Rwanda comes from renewable sources: The total currently installed electricity capacity is 160 MW (March 2015), of which approximately more than 60% comes from hydrological resources along with other indigenous sources and less than 40% comes from diesel-powered generators. The current on-grid access to electricity is estimated at 23% of households and off-grid is 1.5%. Rwanda has envisaged increasing electric power supply by maximizing use of various indigenous energy resources and reach its ambitious target of 563 MW (domestic generation + imports) with electricity access of 70% (on-grid and off-grid) by the end of 2018. However, several challenges laying behind the development in the electric energy sector and utilization of renewable energy resources should be addressed. Challenges to be tackled and measures to be taken to achieve this goal have been presented in this study.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AU  - Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana
    AU  - Ahmet Teke
    AU  - Turgay Ibrikci
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    T2  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
    JF  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
    JO  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
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    AB  - This paper reviews the energy sector in Rwanda with an accent on Renewable Energy. In Rwanda, energy sector plays a vital role in supporting socio-economic evolution and has a close connection to the growth of other economic sectors. The country has both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Energy policies of the country give special attention to the use of modern, clean and energy efficient technologies. Most of Electricity in Rwanda comes from renewable sources: The total currently installed electricity capacity is 160 MW (March 2015), of which approximately more than 60% comes from hydrological resources along with other indigenous sources and less than 40% comes from diesel-powered generators. The current on-grid access to electricity is estimated at 23% of households and off-grid is 1.5%. Rwanda has envisaged increasing electric power supply by maximizing use of various indigenous energy resources and reach its ambitious target of 563 MW (domestic generation + imports) with electricity access of 70% (on-grid and off-grid) by the end of 2018. However, several challenges laying behind the development in the electric energy sector and utilization of renewable energy resources should be addressed. Challenges to be tackled and measures to be taken to achieve this goal have been presented in this study.
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