Methane Harvesting

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda decided to reduce the risk of a sudden eruption of the gases dissolved in Lake Kivu. This is intended to be done in a safe, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial way. In total, the dissolved methane in Lake Kivu is worth an estimated amount of 20 billion dollars and should help to reduce the dependency on imported energy resources and wood fuel. A group of expert, including Eawag representatives, has developed management prescriptions for the safe extraction of methane from Lake Kivu.

In Rwanda, the Unit for the Promotion and Exploitation of Lake Kivu Gas (UPEGAZ), a body within the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) was responsible to promote the project of methane harvesting from 2004 to 2008. In 2008, the Lake Kivu Monitoring Program was established under MININFRA and since July 2011 has been transferred under the Energy and Water Sanitation Authority (EWSA). This program aimed at monitoring the methane gas extraction to avoid any impacts on the lake and on the safety of the riparian population.

A first pilot plant, Kibuye Power 1 (KP1) has started extracting methane from the lake in January 2009. A larger plant with an installed capacity of 25 MW is currently constructed by KivuWatt/ContourGlobal and is expected to start operation in 2012.

Documents to download:

• Modelling the reinjection of deep-water after methane extraction in Lake Kivu, Report, December 2009, A. Wüest, L. Jarc, M. Schmid [pdf, 2.52MB]
• Management prescriptions for the development of Lake Kivu Gas Resources Expert Working Group, June 2009 [pdf, 675KB]

Contact persons

Charles Nyirahuku (EWSA), Augusta Umutoni (EWSA), Alfred Wueest