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Nyabarongo I

Hydro power plant in Southern Province, Rwanda. Approximate location -1.989, 29.633.

HydroSouthern ProvinceRwanda

Nyabarongo I is a 28 MW hydro power plant in Southern Province, Rwanda. It is operated by Rwanda Energy Group Limited (REG) Government of Rwanda. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 28,032 homes (estimated). It ranks #3 of 11 Rwanda power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2014, it is around 12 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 46.0% of Rwanda's electricity; the national grid averages 354 gCO₂/kWh (49.6% low-carbon) (2024).

28MW installed capacity
28,032homes powered (est.)
2014commissioned (~12 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061154.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Rwanda

Rusizi II: 44 MW44Rusizi IIRusizi I: 30 MW30Rusizi INyabarongo I: 28 MW28Nyabarongo…Mukungwa: 12 MW12MukungwaNtaruka: 12 MW12NtarukaMukungwa II: 2 MW2Mukungwa II

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Rwanda Energy Group Limited (REG) Government of Rwanda. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 2.0°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

19.1°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
404cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,774 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 19 °CJF: 19 °CFM: 19 °CMA: 19 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 19 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 19 °CON: 19 °CND: 19 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #3 largest hydro power plant of 6 in Rwanda by capacity.

Rwanda has 6 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 128 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -1.989, 29.633 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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