Cape Rubona plant

Burning tip

Gas storage tanks

Twenty years after the gas deposit discovery (in 1937), the first extraction /purification pilot plant was established at Cape Rubona-Gisenyi province/Rwanda in 1963 after a proof of concept had been demonstrated in Keshero, Zaire now Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.). The Cape Rubona plant, designed and constructed by Union Chimique Belge (U.C.B.) was intended to operate as an experimental pilot plant with a life expectancy of 10 years. Cape Rubona was located at 3 Km from the local Brewery, Bralirwa, which converted one of its boilers to use gas as a combustible to replace the imported fuel oil. It consumes and pays for 5 000 cum of purified methane gas at 80% per day; that is the production of the pilot plant.

Over almost 40 years of operation, the pilot plant has lost most of its identity as an experimental unit and began to be seen as a commercial business operation. With a growing demand for more gas at Bralirwa, numerous studies have been made to address and optimise the technical, commercial and environmental issues relating to a larger scale exploitation of the methane gas.The most important of these studies are the TRACTEBEL studies of 1984 and 1989 and TECHNIP study of 1986 on markets' evaluation and technology development needs to expand the industry. TRACTEBEL chose to remain with Cape Rubona technology, finished detailed design cost, financial, economic and tender document preparation. TECHNIP chose to pursue alternative apparently less expensive technology, which has yet to be demonstrated. In fact the modular technology was not further developed beyond its conceptual design. In 1995 TECNITAS conducted a survey and a summary of TRACTEBEL and TECHNIP approaches and produced a synthesis study using the adjusted modular concept proposed by TECHNIP.

During this experimental period, it became clear that the duel between Rwanda and the DRC would require a multinational framework for managing the exploitation of the resource. In response to both national concern and potential financial/investor weariness, a tri-national organization was established in may 1975, Communauté Economique des Pays des Grands Lacs (CEPGL) to oversee trilateral economic activity between Burundi, Rwanda and DRC. CEPGL subsequently sponsored several technical , financial, economic and market studies. In April 1990, Rwanda and DRC created a bilateral concern entitled Société de Contrôle de l'Exploitation du gaz Méthane du Lac Kivu, SOCIGAZ, to monitor and govern the exploitation of lake Kivu gas. In April 1998, new statuses and regulations re-creating SOCIGAZ were adopted between Rwanda and DRC. These new statuses clearly stipulate that the two countries can approach, negotiate and select the concessionaires to operate on their respective territories and fix themselves the financial conditions of concessions in the respect of the exploitation norms.

With the resumption of Cape Rubona operation in 1999 and the initiative to restructure and privatise Electrogaz (state-owned company involved in electricity generation, transmission and distribution), a renewed interest in developing the gas industry in Rwanda has emerged and has manifested itself in the creation, within the Ministry of Energy, Water and Natural Resources, of the Unit for the Promotion and the Exploitation of lake Kivu Gas, UPEGAZ