An NNN-RNA Special Report

KIGALI, Sept 9 (NNN-RNA) -- Do you know which parts of Rwanda are much windier and what that wind can be used for?

A wind power project is coming to do just that with an instrument never used anywhere on the continent and a plan to light up places far from the national electricity grid.

A Rwandan national fascinated with using the abundant wind to generate electricity for rural areas has purchased a Tower Wind Measurement Equipment which he wants to install in south-western Rwanda.

Jackson Ndizeye has also acquired what he describes as the most important component to the project -- a Wind Map.

Rwanda is short of energy with a deficit of up to 40 per cent of all its electricity needs required to run the expanding industrial sector and general business environment. The local power utility, Electrogaz, can barely cope with the demand.

Four years ago, Ndizeye, a Rwandan living in the United States, moved to apply the knowledge he had acquired from his La Roche University scholarship to have rural communities lit up using wind power, considering that just such areas are completely away from the power grid.

However, the starting point was to determine the wind capacity of the country. Ndizeye, through his own charity, Rwindalectric, is to commission a 12-month feasibility study around January next year to determine the wind capacity of Rwanda.

Armed with the 17,000 USD Wind Measurement Tower, and now a Wind Map, the young wind energy enthusiast is finally seeing the project getting off the ground.

"My European competitors are still figuring out how to create (a wind map). Well, that's too late," he tells RNA. "This is the most important part of the project because now we know which places have which amounts of wind."

In order to put up a wind power turbine, says Ndizeye, there is a need for average wind speeds of about seven metres per second. However, this speed must be spread over the whole year such that you are not forced to transfer the turbines when the speeds change, he points out.

The map, developed by 3TIER Inc., enables the user to know how wind is distributed around the whole country. It shows that the high-altitude districts of Nyabihu and Rubavu in western Rwanda are the windiest parts of the country.

In Nyabihu district specifically, among the 10 sectors, Ngenda, Bigogwe and Kabatwa have the highest and constant wind speeds all through the year. In Bigogwe precisely, there is a place called Arusha at which government studies have shown sufficient speeds.

In the east of the country, the flat areas of Nyagatare district and other places in the same location have high wind speeds.

All these years, wind capacity estimates have been based on speculation, says Ndizeye, who adds that nobody knew which places and what speeds.

He would also like to have many measurement towers installed at the same time. But to do that, more financial resources are needed. At the moment, Ndizeye has one tower in Pittsburg in the US where he lives, waiting to be transported to Kigali by the end of this year.

The project is, however, running behind schedule as donations from well-wishers are becoming increasingly rare as the global economic crisis bites, according to him.

"I would of course like to have support from anybody, anywhere. I would be glad to see contributions from Rwanda because wind energy is a resource we have in plenty waiting to be exploited," he explains.

For the tower to be transported and installed with the help of either German, American, or Kenyan experts, at least US$10,000 is required. Transportation alone could consume about U$5,000, with the cheapest installation experts from Kenya taking some US$2,000. However, locals will be used to raise the tower to its height.

The 50-metre wind measurement equipment is capable of capturing the speed of wind at a high elevation and determining the amount of electricity that can be produced.

International wind energy development regulations stipulate the feasibility study is done over a 12-month period. This means, according to Ndizeye, that after that time, he will be in position to know where to install turbines to generate power.

In January 2004, the energy crisis broke out in the country, resulting in losses equivalent to 40 per cent of total electricity production. The very low level of Lakes Burera and Rulindo in Northern Rwanda, according to the government, caused Electrogaz to reduce generation significantly.

This meant that Ntaruka Dam's electricity supply dropped from 11.25 megawatts (MW) to 2.5 MW. As for Mukunga Dam, it could only produce a meagre 5.0 MW, down from 12.5 MW.

In 2005, the government shipped in mega generators that were able to bring down the supply gap by 25 to 30 MW but as oil prices rocketed, energy officials in Kigali just do not find this sustainable.

Now, as government searches for more sources of energy, it is working on extracting methane gas from Lake Kivu in northwestern Rwanda in about a year.

Rwindalectric believes the wind electricity initiative could add between 10MW to 50MW of power that the nation needs. -- NNN-RNA