Rwanda is a landlocked country in Central Eastern Africa neighbouring Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a population of around 13.8 million people, Rwanda is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Policy and planning in Rwanda are guided by the Vision 2050 framework and its stated aspiration that Rwanda will become an upper-middle income country (UMIC) by 2035, and a high-income country (HIC) by 2050. Implementation of the Vision for the period of 2017-2024 is set out in the National Strategy for Transformation 1 (NST1) supported by sectoral strategies, including energy. NST1 targets the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is built around 3 pillars: Economic Transformation, Social Transformation, and Transformational Governance; with several cross-cutting themes that include gender and climate change.

Rwanda has indigenous energy resources: hydro, solar, geothermal, biomass, peat, and methane gas reserves. At present around 74% of energy consumed is biomass, 20% from oil products and the remainder from a mix of the other sources. 

Ambitious targets for energy access have been set: 100% electricity access by 2024 (originally set as 52% on-grid, 48% off-grid, then changed to 70%/30% in 2022), and corresponding targets have been set for the supporting power system (generation, transmission, and distribution). The electricity generation installed capacity in 2024 was 276MW (51% from thermal sources, 43.9% from hydro sources, 4.2% from solar sources and 0.9% other).  

A range of generation projects are due to complete in 2024, changing the generation mix to: Hydro 50%, Methane 20%, Peat 17%, Diesel 5%, and solar 8%. 

Although making good progress against electricity access targets, many challenges remain to move energy consumption to clean sustainable sources. Under the immediate targets for 100% electricity access, most households will have Tier 1 or 2 access, using small amounts of electricity for a limited set of appliances. Biomass, particularly for cooking, will remain dominant. The targeted development trajectory involves a virtuous cycle of increased Productive Use of Energy underpinning economic growth that results in increasingly prosperous households utilising increasing amounts of electricity. Electricity (along with other biomass alternatives like Liquid Petroleum Gas) will play a key part in modernising cooking. Growing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources will be necessary to keep up with demand and to meet 2030 targets of renewables in the electricity mix.

Energy policy in Rwanda is closely aligned with the high-level national objectives set by Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation (NST-1).

National Energy Policy (2015) is the high-level policy document which guides and influences strategy. It sets out governing laws and regulations and strategic sector-specific priorities (electricity, biomass, petroleum). The most relevant and current planning documents include:

• Energy Sector Strategic Plan 2018/19 - 2023/24
• Rwanda Energy Group Strategic Plan 2019-2024
• Least Cost Power Development Plan 2022-2040
• Regulations on Rwanda Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff

Other key policies, laws, and regulations linked to the National Energy Policy are:

• SE4All Action Agenda (2016)
• Scaling up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) Investment Plan (2015)
• Rural Electrification Strategy (2016)
• National Electrification Plan (2018)
• Energy Efficiency Strategy (2018)
• Grid Code (2013)
• National Biomass Programme (2018)
• Electricity Law of Rwanda (2018)
• Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law (2018)

The development and operation of the Rwandan energy sector involves a range of institutions, including, Government Ministries, Government-owned corporate entities and regulatory bodies. 

Since 2014, the Rwanda Energy Group Ltd (REG Ltd) has been responsible for delivery of Rwanda’s Energy Sector strategy, reporting to its shareholders (MININFRA and MINECOFIN). REG Ltd has two subsidiaries: Energy Utility Corporation Limited (EUCL) and Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL). EUCL is a vertical monopoly utility in charge of day-to-day operation of the power system, with responsibility for operating the generation, transmission, distribution assets, and supply to final customers. 

EDCL is responsible for executing the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCDP) with a focus on the development and exploitation of domestic energy resources and investments. In doing so, it collaborates with MININFRA and the Rwandan Development Bank. 

The Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) is the lead Ministry responsible for developing energy policies and strategies, and for monitoring and evaluating projects and program implementation. 

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) influences the energy sector through developing large-scale demand projects and is responsible for the development and oversight of the petroleum subsector. 

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning leads on resource mobilization to support energy investment and related financing requirements. 

The Ministry of Natural Resources is responsible for ensuring the sustainability of natural resources exploitation and for compliance with the national environment policy and law. 

The Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) supports the energy sector through human capacity building and by helping to link sector policies and strategies to research, technology development, and innovation via its research agencies (the National Industrial Research and Developement Agency and the National Council for Science and Technology). 

The Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) manage the decentralised activity at District (local) Government level, where local infrastructure development takes place. 

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is responsible for mobilising investment in the energy sector, including private investors and foreign direct investment (FDI). RDB is also responsible for issuing Environmental Impact Assessments for applicable energy projects. 

The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) is responsible for consumer protection across all public utilities involved in renewable and non-renewable energy, electricity, industrial gases, pipelines and storage facilities, and conventional gas extraction and distribution. 

The National Industrial Research Development Authority (NIRDA) focuses on research on the energy mix to support industrial growth. 

Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) coordinates and implements environmental policy and is responsible for ensuring environmental compliance in the sector. 

Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) develops national technical regulations and performance standards, including energy technologies, with an increasing focus on smaller decentralised renewable energy products. 

The National Commission of Science and Technology (NCST) works with Higher Education institutions to ensure modern scientific tools and technology are employed in the energy sector. 

Academia

Public Higher Education in Rwanda is provided by the University of Rwanda and the Rwanda Polytechnic. 

The University of Rwanda was established in 2013 when the Government of Rwanda merged the nation’s seven public Higher Learning Institutions, creating a multi-campus entity comprising of six colleges. 

The College of Science and Technology hosts the African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD), established with support from the World Bank funded ACE II project. ACE-ESD aims to be a regional hub providing interdisciplinary research and training in “smart and micro-grid energy technologies tailored to serve remote and/or rural areas using renewable sources.” 

Established in 2017 The Rwanda Polytechnic has the mandate for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills development across the country. 

There are numerous private universities in Rwanda providing a range of courses. Carnegie Mellon University – Africa is particularly relevant to the Energy sector with a strong focus on Electrical Engineering research and teaching. 

Private Sector

The Rwanda Energy Group Ltd encourage private sector participation in both on-grid and off-grid energy sectors.  During the year 2021-2022, 60% of energy on the national grid was generated by Independent Power Producers (IPPs). IPP generation plant includes Hydro, Solar and Methane. 

Delivery of off-grid energy access targets has strongly focussed on private sector delivery. The Rwanda Renewable Energy Fund has been a key driver of this, resulting in the presence of several Small and Medium Enterprises focussing on Solar Home System and Renewable Energy mini-grids in the off-grid energy sector. 

Active companies include:

• BBOX
• Mobisol (Engie)
• Mesh Power
• OffGridBox
• Arc Power
• East Africa Power
• Huboka

Scaling up Renewable Energy Program (SREP)

Supported by $50m of World Bank funding, this programme provides a Renewable Energy Fund (REF) that enables access to finance for off-grid electrification.

Rwanda Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project (EAQIP)

This $288m World Bank-funded project focuses on grid rehabilitation and development, plus additional off-grid and clean cooking sub-components.

Scaling Up Electricity Access Program Phase II (SEAP II) 

The second phase of the African Development Banks SEAP program is a three-year Results Based Financing (RBF) program with the majority of funding support allocated to improving power system reliability and increasing on-grid access. Smaller sub-components support increased off-grid access, strengthening institutions, capacity building, and technical assistance. 

Energising Development Rwanda 

EnDev Rwanda provides a range of support to the Rwandan renewable energy sector.  Results-based financing (RBF) projects for decentralised energy solutions (pro-poor and village centric) have been successfully trialled and scaled up nationally.  EnDev support multiple clean cooking initiatives and have supported innovation in productive use of energy (PUE) including launching the first solar cold-storage-as-a-service pilot in Rwanda.

USAID Power Africa

The Power Africa programme has been active in Rwanda since 2014, providing technical assistance to the Rwandan Energy Group, supporting Independent Power Producers to develop generation projects, and providing grant support for electrification of health facilities.

Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund has provided $214m of funding to 13 projects in Rwanda, including support of the current Rwanda Green Investment Facility (RGIF) that aims to strengthen Rwanda’s ownership of climate finance and address the market barriers that impede private sector investment from flowing to climate action.

Rwanda Green Fund  

Established by the Government of Rwanda in 2012, the Rwanda Green Fund has a mandate to invest in public and private projects with the potential to create transformational change, build an ecosystem to incubate, accelerate and provide growth capital to high-impact green ventures and play a catalytic role to attract climate finance and green investment. It has committed investments of just under USD40 million to 35 projects to date.