Energy access assessment report focusing on energy poverty and energy demand for Rwanda

Abstract

This technical report is a researched document that examines energy access in Rwanda, focusing on energy poverty assessment and energy demand assessment. The key findings and observations can help mitigate the energy access problems and improve access to modern energy in Rwanda. Studies have shown that sub-Saharan African countries have poor access or no access to modern energy, Rwanda being part of sub-Saharan Africa also has Poor access to modern and clean energy. To carefully study these energy access problems and proffer solutions to increase energy access in Rwanda based on realities in today’s Africa, (where most households fall below poverty lines, with social issues, low Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and Gross Domestic Power (GDP)), an assessment of these energy problems is done based on Energy Poverty Assessment (EPA) and Energy Demand Assessment (EDA) Composite Multidimensional Indicators (CMDI), respectively. Based on the findings of this research, non-poor energy households increased their energy consumption by 29.26% to 0.68 billion kWh. The clean cooking gas usage in Rwanda is very low at 2.1%, The 2016 estimated electricity consumption is 0.5273 billion kWh, growing by 57.41% to 0.83 billion kWh for energy-poor households in 2021, compared to 52.6% predicted by International Energy Agency (IEA). Finally, there is a direct relationship between energy access and economic development including quality of life, standard of living, per capita income, urbanization, modern infrastructure, etc. Thus, the key findings and observations in this research report will improve economic and infrastructural development in Rwanda, if implemented.