Burundi is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world and only 1% of the country’s population is able to have access to electricity. 90% of Burundi’s energy sources comes from wood, charcoal and peat. Most rural areas are completely without electricity, which leaves them in darkness at night and unable to engage in income-generating activities that require power. Bujumbura and Gitega are the only two cities in Burundi that have municipal electricity service.
The country’s electrical power sector is traditionally state owned. Structural adjustment and privatisation for the power sector was initially commenced in 1989, but civil and political conflict has curtailed the process.
Electricity generation and supply in Burundi is managed and administered by two primary organisations. The first organisation, Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité (Regideso), operates and controls all of Burundi's thermal power stations, and is also responsible for power distribution in urban areas, the majority of which are located in the country's capital Bujumbura and the surrounding areas, and a small amount of hydro capacity (in the form of small units in rural areas).
The second organisation, Société Internationale des Pays des Grand Lacs (Sinelac), is responsible for developing international electricity projects, which include the 28 MW Rusizi hydro plant situated in Burundi. Sinelac has initiated several other hydro projects which are presently under construction.
It has been approximated that Burundi has hydropower potential of 1370 MW with an annual production of 6000 GWh, but only 300 MW of this potential is seen as viable for economic exploitation. Nevertheless, Burundi has always relied heavily on hydroelectric power for its electricity supply.
There is additionally an installed capacity of thermal power of 5.5 MW (2x1.5 MW, 2x1.25 MW) which has been put in place in 1996 for auxiliary supply services of Bujumbura. There are currently 27 small hydropower plants of up to 1 MW that are operational with a total capacity of 2,93 MW.
The country is currently focusing on rehabilitating existing power plants and transmission lines for the national 110 kV high voltage grid and is hoping to build two new hydropower plants, to maximise the country’s power supply for the near future.
