The Regional Rusumo Falls Project will also have Transmission lines associated to the Power Plant facility. The transmission lines will be financed by a number of financier including the African Development Bank (AfDB), KfW, the European Investment Bank (EIB), AFD of France, SIDA (Sweden), Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF), among others.
Each of the three partner governments and its Utility Company will be responsible for the evacuation of power from the power plant. Three 220kV transmission lines shall be constructed to connect the power plant substation to the respective centres within each country as follows: (a) Rusumo Falls – Gitega (Burundi), 161km; (b) Rusumo Falls – Nyakanazi (Tanzania), 98km;  and (c) Rusumo Falls – Shango and Bugesera (Rwanda), 119km.

1. Project purpose and objective

The project overall objective is to increase the supply of electricity to the national grids of Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi and comprises of construction of an 80MW Power Plant including the associated three transmission lines. The generated electricity will be equally shared among the three countries each benefiting about 26MW directly connected to the national grid through the transmission lines.

The RRFHP will address acute shortage of electricity experienced by the three Kagera sub-
region countries of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania which is negatively affecting their economies and the livelihoods of their riparian citizens. The project will enhance regional cooperation, peace building, support sustainable management of the Kagera river basin and promote growth and poverty reduction whilst managing environmental aspects.

2. Project Description and Key Data

The RRFHP Project is a key project of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) prepared through the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU). The owner of the plant is a newly formed private company - Rusumo Power Company Ltd, (RPCL) based in Kigali Rwanda. The three countries will hold equal shares in RPCL.
RPCL has entrusted the implementation of the project to NELSAP-CU. The World Bank is providing the entire funding of 340 Million USD for the 80 MW Power Plant. The AfDB is providing 128 Million USD for the 372 Km of 220Kv transmission lines.
The project comprises a run-of-river scheme on the Kagera River at the border between Rwanda and Tanzania and develops a head of around 35m at the local falls. A gated weir of 13m height and 115m long diverts a design flow of up to 360 m3/sec into a free -low headrace tunnel - 9m wide and 12m high and around 700m in length.
A surface power house is equipped with three Kaplan turbines each of 27MW capacity. The forecast annual generation is around 500GWhr with a load factor of 63%. The construction period of 36 months started on 13 February 2017 with a commissioning date of 13 February 2020.
Contract Package 1 (CP1): Civil Works/ Supply and Installation of Hydro-Mechanical Equipment executed by the Joint Venture of CGCOC Group and Jiangxi Water & Hydropower Construction Company (JWHC) China.
Contract Package 2 (CP2): Supply and Installation of Electro-Mechanical Equipment executed by the Joint Venture of Andritz Hydro Germany and Andritz Hydro India
The Owners Engineer is AECOM-Artelia JV.
The project also funds community driven Livelihood Resettlement Projects (LRP) in the districts bordering the project site and Local Area Development Projects (LADP) projects. Environmental programmes are also part of the project funding.

3. Project Components

The RRFHP is funded by the World Bank for a total of USD 340 million.
The Project has four main sub-components:
1) Civil Works/ Supply and Installation of Hydro-Mechanical Equipment as the Contract Package 1 (CP1);
2) Supply and Installation of Electro-Mechanical Equipment as Contract Package 2 (CP2);
3) Livelihood Restoration Program (LRP) for the People Affected Persons (PAPs) and
4) Local Area Development Program (LADP).

4. Completed actions during preparation phase

NELSAP-CU through Rusumo Project Implementing Unit (PIU) has moved the Project to implementation phase. Completed project preparatory activities prior to the Construction phase includes:
(i) The Owners’ Engineer (OE) AECOM-ARTELIA JV was recruited on 21st April 2014. The Project Technical Designs through the Owners Engineer (AECOM & ARTELIA Joint venture) was finalized.
(ii) Selection and hiring Contractor for CP1, CGCOC Group & JWHC Joint Venture from China for Civil Works / Supply and Installation of Hydro-Mechanical Equipment (US$75 Million) is on board.
(iii) Selection and hiring Contractor for CP2, ANDRITZ Hydro from Germany/India for Supply and Installation of the Electro-Mechanical Equipment (US$47 Million) is on board since 9th November 2016.
(iv) Compensation of all the Project Affected Persons (PAPs): 60 households and 1 commercial group in Rwanda and 108 households and 3 commercial groups in Tanzania respectively. A total USD 3.1 million were paid out to the PAPs as compensation in the two Districts Ngara in Tanzania and Kirehe in Rwanda.
(v) Completed Environmental Baseline Studies, which included; (i) fish baseline survey, (ii) the spray zone biodiversity survey and (iii) the water quality baseline study.

5. Environmental Social Health Safety Management Plan (ESHS MP) during construction phase:

1. Erosion and Sediment Control
2. Spoil Disposal Management
3. Quarry Management
4. Solid Waste Management
5. Hazardous Products and Waste Management
6. Wastewater Management
7. Emergency Preparedness and Response
8. Water Quality Monitoring
9. Air Emission and Dust Control
10. Noise and Vibration
11. Site Decommissioning and Rehabilitation
12. Management of Physical Cultural Resources (PCR)
13. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management
14. Worker Camps Management
15. Recruitment and Labor Management
16. Road Traffic and Site Access
17. ESHS Training

Site Specific Plans

Site Specific Plans (SSPs) are mandatory submittals for each of the main structures and require approval by the Owners Engineer. The SSPs ensure that all specific technical, social and environmental issues are considered before construction activities start. They include for example records and agreements on land or property acquisition, effects and mitigations from blasting etc.

Employment Opportunities

The construction activities are creating job opportunities to about 230 Rwandans, about 320 Tanzanians and about 70 Burundians as of January 2019.

Development Communication and Stakeholder Engagement

Development Communication of Project activities and engagement of all key project stakeholders and beneficiaries is on-going and continues. Communication is centered around enhancing public understanding of the Project, building confidence among Rusumo communities, Environmental, Social Health Safety awareness creation. A Project stakeholder engagement plan for the construction period.