In most cases, methane gases leaking up from the murky depths of Lake Kivu would not be the best news for the local anglers of Kigali, Rwanda, however, these gases “may rise to the occasion” and bring energy to the population. The Rwandan Government is now venturing to extract the methane and construct a methane-powered generation plant and use it to generate electricity.
Local scientists believe that the massive pool of methane and carbon dioxide at the bottom of the lake bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could possibly ignite one day causing a great deal of destruction. The government has come up with its power generation plan to overt such a catastrophe.
“It’s the first of its kind in the world,” said Eng. Albert Butare, Rwanda’s Minister of State for Energy. “In the beginning, it was a myth. But now the technology is promising.”
For starters, the Government invested $15 million in a pilot project floating platform, which has deployed a pipe, the length of more than three football fields, down to retrieve the gasses to power a 4-megawatt (MW) generator. Now, New York-based Contour Global is in negotiations with government officials to build a permanent facility on the lake with aspirations of producing 100 MW of electricity.
“They are very comfortable with the technology,” said Richard Mugisha, a Rwandan attorney representing Contour. He said the first phase, a 20-MW facility, could be operational in two years.
Past attempts by foreign engineering companies have proved unsuccessful, but the Government and the locals are in full agreement that something needs to be done. Charles Nyirahuku, a Government manager in charge of the project expresses, “you need to use gentle methods.”
The removal of the gasses could destabilize the lake leading to an uncontrollable release, not to mention, a report from the UN Environmental Program 2006 stated that volcanic activity around the lake could ignite the lake releasing massive amounts of deadly carbon dioxide.
Mr Mugisha expresses, “It’s never been done on such a grand scale before,” he said. “But we have to do something. If not, we’re sitting on a time bomb.”