Lake Kivu power plant is a 56 MW gas power plant in Lake Kivu, Rwanda. It is operated by Symbion Power Lake Kivu Ltd. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 63k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 12 Rwanda power plants by installed capacity. In context, gas supplies about 26.5% of Rwanda's electricity; the national grid averages 354 gCO₂/kWh (49.6% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_lakekivu_rwanda.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000409062; fuel: GEM GOGPT
Technically it is described as Engine. Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Symbion Power Lake Kivu Ltd.
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 2.0°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with heat / UV the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest gas power plant of 2 in Rwanda by capacity.
Rwanda has 2 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 82 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -2.028763, 29.290399 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Lake Kivu power plant is a 56 MW gas power plant in Lake Kivu, Rwanda.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 63,072 homes (estimated).
Lake Kivu power plant is operated by Symbion Power Lake Kivu Ltd.
