Programme to improve energy supply in the Great Lakes region, Rwanda-Congo transmission line (DR)

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The Great Lakes region's social and economic development is hampered by, among other things, a serious lack of reliable and affordable electricity supplies. The countries are therefore striving to build a regional interconnected grid. This will make it possible to jointly use the significant hydropower potential of the border rivers and to stabilize the energy supply. The project envisages the construction of a 220 kV transmission line from Karongi (Rwanda) via Rubavu (Rwanda) to Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Kigali (Rwanda), as well as the construction of the network's associated substations. It is being implemented as part of the NELSAP (Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Program), which includes the construction of several high-voltage lines and hydroelectric power plants along the Ruzizi River on the border of the three countries. The project improves the electricity supply to Kigali and Goma (project objective). It contributes to the creation of a regional electricity market and a reliable and cost-effective energy supply for the entire region (program objective) in order to strengthen economic and social development in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (overarching development objective). The target group benefiting from this are electricity consumers in Rwanda and eastern Congo. The project is jointly financed by grants from Germany, the Netherlands and a financial contribution from the African Development Bank as well as by contributions from the participating states.