Ignite Power Enters Agreement For Distributed Solar Power In Rwanda

The Rwandan Government has entered a significant agreement with regards to its goal to provide electricity access to 70% of the country’s households.

Ignite Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Rwanda to provide off-grid solar power systems to 250,000 households across the country by 2018. According to media reports, Ignite Power is expected to install up to 1 million distributed solar power systems at a total value estimated at just under $50 million.

These systems will be distributed by the company between 2016 and 2018. Recipients of these systems will be required to pay some amount to the company through weekly or monthly installations. The last of these installations are expected to be paid by 2020.

Ignite Power has already completed a pilot phase in which it installed 1,000 distributed solar power systems across seven districts.

The agreement is likely to play a major role in increasing the electricity access in Rwanda from 24% at present to 70% by 2018.

Rwanda’s installed power generation capacity stands at under 200 MW, though the government hopes to increase it to 560 MW by 2018. Solar power can play a major role in realising this target. The country commissioned its first utility-scale solar power project in 2014 which had an installed capacity of 8.5 MW.