Home / Africa / Rwanda / Rusizi I

Rusizi I

Hydro power plant in South Kivu, Rwanda. Approximate location -2.509, 28.875.

HydroSouth KivuRwanda

Rusizi I is a 30 MW hydro power plant in South Kivu, Rwanda. It is operated by Rwanda Energy Group Limited (REG) Government of Rwanda. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 29,834 homes (estimated). It ranks #2 of 11 Rwanda power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1958, it is around 68 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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).

30MW installed capacity
29,834homes powered (est.)
1958commissioned (~68 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061158.

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 subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 2.5°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

18.7°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
248cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,664 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 19 °CJF: 18 °CFM: 18 °CMA: 18 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 19 °CSO: 19 °CON: 18 °CND: 18 °CD19 °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 #2 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 -2.509, 28.875 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.