Methane was discovered in the deep waters of Lake Kivu, on the border between the Republic of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1936 while people were trying to understand why there were so few fish in the lake. The lake, which is located at an altitude of 1462m, is 485m deep and has a surface area of 2400km2. A number of studies of the lake and its methane resource have been conducted since the discovery, most comprehensively in 1976. These studies have uncovered approximately 250-300 km3 of dissolved carbon dioxide and 55-60 km3 of methane gas accumulated and trapped at significant depth in the lake, and these quantities are increasing on a daily basis.
Project KivuWatt will develop the methane resources contained in the lake while at the same time reducing the risk of a potentially serious environmental incident. Based on numerous studies of lake phenomena, the scientific community has predicted that, without a reduction of methane and carbon dioxide, there is a real risk of an explosive release of large quantities of these gases within the next 100-200 years. Such a release could have a catastrophic effect on the many hundreds of thousands of people living around the lake, most of whom would be asphyxiated. Rather than just vent the 55-60 km3 of methane, KivuWatt will extract and process it for power generation.
The methane gas produced will initially be used to power three gas engine generator sets (“gensets”) which will produce approximately 25 MW of electricity for the local grid in Phase 1. Phase 2 is expected to add an additional 75 MW of power, employing nine additional gensets to expand KivuWatt to just over 100 MW of power for the people of Rwanda. The gas production facility will comprise: (i) one gas extraction and treatment facility per floating platform, or barge, in the deep waters of the lake — there will be one platform per 25 MW of power capacity; (ii) a submerged, floating pipeline to transport the fuel gas ashore from each barge; and (iii) an onshore gas receiving facility .
Rwanda’s level of electrification is very low, and the economy only has access to very expensive liquid fuels. By tapping the indigenous fuel which is the sub-lake methane, KivuWatt will play a significant role in the country’s development and socio-economic prospects. The full realization of Phase 2 could also provide electricity export potential to neighboring countries, most attractive of which will be Uganda.
