Buhiga Hydroelectric Power Station

Buhiga Hydroelectric Power Station is an run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station in the Karuzi Province of Burundi.

Location

The power station is to the southeast of the Buhiga District Hospital and the town of Buhiga.
It is about south-southeast of the dam on the Ndurumu River.
It supplies the city of Buhiga and Karuzi.

Technical

The power station has a hydraulic head of and installed power of 220 kW using an Ossberger turbine.
A concrete masonry gravity dam diverts water from the upper Ndurumu River into the intake and settling area.
From there, it flows through a power canal, then down a steel penstock to the turbogenerator.
Given the available river flow, the station was designed to allow for later installation of a second turbine in the powerhouse.

History

Buhiga Hydroelectric Power Station was commissioned in 1984.
The project was funded by the Mission of the Eglise Episcopale du Burundi.
In 1991 the hydropower plants of Buhiga and Ruyigi, both run at that time by Direction Generale de L'Hydraulique et de l'Electrification Rurales, were handed over to REGIDESO Burundi for operation.
In 2007 it was expected that the Marangara, Buhiga and Kayenzi power plants would soon by connected to the national grid through the Musasa substation, which would be connected by a 30 kV line to the Ngozi substation.
The project was financed by the Programme de réhabilitation du Burundi.
In 2012 the government issued a National strategy for electricity access which included plans to double the capacity of the Buhiga station.