USTDA Awards Grants for Two Power Africa Projects
December 12, 2014
(USTDA)
Supports Hydropower Development in Tanzania and Rwanda
ARLINGTON, VA – This week, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded two
grants to support the development of hydropower in Tanzania and Rwanda. These
activities build upon USTDA’s long history of connecting U.S. industry to
priority clean energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. They also support the
goals of Power Africa, a U.S. government-led initiative to increase electricity
access across the continent.
“USTDA is proud to continue its leadership on Power Africa with these new
grants,” said Agency Director Leocadia I. Zak. “These projects will employ U.S.
expertise to help develop reliable, affordable power in Tanzania and Rwanda.”
USTDA provided a grant to Kastan Mining PLC, a Tanzanian company, to support the
development of two 10 Megawatt (MW) run-of-river hydropower facilities that will
supply power to Tanzania’s public utility and to villages in the Lukosi River
Basin area. The project will evaluate the technical and financial aspects of the
facilities by providing recommendations on standardized hydropower plant
configurations. The feasibility study will be undertaken by U.S. technical
consulting company Knight Piesold & Co. (Lisle, IL).
“Kastan is proud to lead this effort to meet the energy needs of villagers in
the Lukosi River Basin,” said Mr. John Tate, Kastan’s Chief Executive Officer.
“We look forward to working with our partners to develop these hydropower
facilities, which will be operated by the Ruaha River Power Company Limited.”
The second grant is supporting the efforts of DC HydroPower Ltd., a Rwandan
energy company, to develop two run-of-river hydropower plants in northwest
Rwanda. DC HydroPower has selected Ritoch-Powell & Associates Consulting
Engineers, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ) to provide technical assistance to help develop
the Rwaza I and Rwaza II hydropower plants. The plants, which will install a
combined 3.6 MW of new electricity generation capacity, will help electrify over
7,000 households and businesses across the mountainous Musanze District. The
grant agreement was signed by U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, Donald Koran, and DC
HydroPower’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Chad Bannick.
The project with DC HydroPower furthers USTDA’s commitment to deploying cleaner
energy solutions in Rwanda, including supporting an ongoing feasibility study
for the phased development of 12 MW in new run-of-the-river hydropower
generation with Amahoro Energy.
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