Rwanda Launches Solar Power Facility

Rwanda Field, built in the shape of the African continent, is East Africa’s first large scale solar power plant
Photo Credit: Gigawatt Global
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 18, 2015

I welcome the completion and launch of an 8.5 MW solar installation in Rwanda by Gigawatt Global. This is the first utility-scale solar project to come online under the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) program, which is now an integral part of Power Africa. The project expands electricity generation capacity by more than 6 percent in a country where more than 80 percent of the people live without access to electricity, and is providing enough grid-connected power to supply 15,000 homes.

With continually decreasing costs, minimal maintenance, and no fuel costs, renewable energy makes more sense now than ever before, especially in remote settings.

Projects like Gigawatt Global’s, realized with the support of the U.S. Department of State, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency through ACEF, underscore that the best path to energy access and economic development is also the sustainable path of clean energy.