{"id":56102,"date":"2025-10-29T14:12:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/gasmeth-energy-expands-lake-kivu-investment-in-rwanda-to-560-million\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:38:19","slug":"gasmeth-energy-expands-lake-kivu-investment-in-rwanda-to-560-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/gasmeth-energy-expands-lake-kivu-investment-in-rwanda-to-560-million\/","title":{"rendered":"GasMeth Energy expands Lake Kivu investment in Rwanda to $560 million"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ambitious project, located in Karongi District\u2019s Bwishyura Sector, aims to produce 40 million cubic feet of methane gas per day by 2027. This output is expected to meet a substantial portion of Rwanda\u2019s domestic and industrial energy needs, reducing reliance on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and helping curb the country\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\n<p>GasMeth Energy\u2019s CEO, Stephen Tierney, told The New Times that the first phase of the project, which was valued at just over $360 million, is nearly complete. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this stage, all of the lake sites and onshore work are largely complete, and offshore work has commenced,\u201d Tierney said, adding that essential infrastructure such as the key barge hull, pumps, and compressors are under fabrication.<\/p>\n<p>Signed in 2019 between GasMeth and the Government of Rwanda, the project initially faced delays due to complex financing arrangements and global supply chain disruptions. Tierney explained that sourcing specialised equipment and securing confirmed gas off-takers took longer than anticipated. <\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks, the project has regained momentum with strong support from both the Rwandan government and international financiers, including the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).<\/p>\n<p>Preliminary works began in 2022, and the project currently employs about 250 people. Employment is expected to triple as construction progresses over the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond energy production, the initiative is poised to advance Rwanda\u2019s environmental goals. With roughly 75% of households still relying on firewood for cooking, the project promises a cleaner, more affordable alternative for households and industries. <\/p>\n<p>Tierney emphasised that the methane-to-gas initiative will help cut CO\u2082 emissions, improve air quality, and reduce deforestation driven by wood and charcoal use.<\/p>\n<p>The project joins existing methane facilities, including KivuWatt and Shema Power Lake Kivu, potentially positioning Rwanda as a continental leader in sustainable methane energy extraction. Analysts say this initiative could mark a turning point for Africa in harnessing lake methane as a reliable, eco-friendly energy source.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-96925 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138f.jpg\" alt=\"A maintainance technician, is seen inside the barge extracting methane gas on Lake Kivu, at the Kivuwatt power plant in Kibuye, Karongi District, in the Western Province of Rwanda, on November 1, 2021. GasMeth Energy Limited has expanded its investment in the lake project to $560 million. \" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GasMeth Energy Ltd has expanded its Lake Kivu methane project in Rwanda with an additional $170 million investment, pushing the total funding beyond $560 million (approximately Frw 814 billion) and boosting the country\u2019s clean energy goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000096926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-62","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000096926,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/28871989b3af9452dc50577cd673138flogo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000096926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56102"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56102"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}