Former foes Congo and Rwanda have agreed to a joint project to produce 200 megawatts of power from methane gas reservoirs in the lake on their shared border, Reuters quoted a senior Congolese power official as saying today. The joint power generation deal is the latest sign of improved relations between Rwanda and the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo, who have fought wars, largely over mineral resources in Congo's east, during the last 15 years. "We discussed with Rwanda's energy minister and have agreed to produce 200 megawatts together. 100 megawatts will go to Congo, and 100 megawatts will go to Rwanda," Eugene Serufuli, head of Congo's national electricity company, SNEL, said. Lake Kivu, which straddles the border between the two Great Lakes region countries, contains large amounts of the highly combustable gas dissolved in its deep, cold waters. Serufuli did not give any further details on the project. Rwanda has already begun extracting small amounts of methane using a demonstration rig on its side of the lake. It was producing two megawatts of power by the end of 2008. Serufuli said total reserves, which are estimated at 55 billion cubic metres of gas, have the potential to produce around 700 megawatts over at least 50 years. The two countries will probably extract the remaining 500 watts independently after the joint exploitation project is completed, he said.
