Energy consumption in Rwanda

The most important figure in the energy balance of Rwanda is the total consumption of

1.01 billion kWh

of electric energy per year. Per capita this is an average of 75 kWh.

Rwanda could be self-sufficient with domestically produced energy. The total production of all electric energy producing facilities is one bn kWh, which is 105 percent of the country's own usage. Despite this, Rwanda trades energy with foreign countries. Along with pure consumption, the production, imports and exports play an important role. Other energy sources, such as natural gas or crude oil are also used.

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Energy Balance

Electricity	total	Rwanda per capita	USA per capita
Own consumption	1.01 bn kWh	74.83 kWh	11,744.38 kWh
Production	1.06 bn kWh	78.73 kWh	12,198.66 kWh
Import	93.96 m kWh	6.98 kWh	185.15 kWh
Export	4.50 m kWh	0.33 kWh	42.59 kWh
46.6% of the country's population (as of 2020) has access to electricity. In rural areas, the share was 38.2%

CO₂ emissions

	CO₂ emissions in 2019	Rwanda per capita	USA per capita
total	1.33 m t	0.10 t	14.52 t
› of which diesel + gasoline	1.19 bn t	92.64 t	7,179.51 t

Development of CO₂ emissions from 1960 to 2019 in million tons
See also: CO₂ equivalents by country

Production capacities per energy source

The given production capacities for electric energy have a theoretical value, which can only be obtained under ideal conditions. They are measuring the generatable amount of energy, that would be reached under permanent and full use of all capacities of all power plants.

In practice this isn't possible, because e.g. solar collectors are less efficient under clouds. Also wind- and water-power plants are not always operating under full load. All these values are only useful in relation to other energy sources or countries.

Energy source	total in Rwanda	Percentage in Rwanda	Percentage USA	per capita in Rwanda	per capita USA
Fossil fuels	905.35 m kWh	39,0 %	59,9 %	67.25 kWh	2.06 kWh
Nuclear power	0.00 kWh	0,0 %	19,5 %	0.00 kWh	0.67 kWh
Solar energy	150.89 m kWh	6,5 %	3,2 %	11.21 kWh	0.11 kWh
Wind power	0.00 kWh	0,0 %	8,3 %	0.00 kWh	0.29 kWh
Water power	1.25 bn kWh	53,9 %	7,0 %	92.95 kWh	0.24 kWh
Tidal Power Plants	0.00 kWh	0,0 %	0,0 %	0.00 kWh	0.00 kWh
Geothermics	0.00 kWh	0,0 %	0,4 %	0.00 kWh	0.01 kWh
Biomass	13.93 m kWh	0,6 %	1,7 %	1.03 kWh	0.06 kWh

Usage of renewable energies

Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources. This means all energy sources that renew themselves within a short time or are permanently available. Energy from hydropower is only partly a renewable energy. This is certainly the case with river or tidal power plants. Otherwise, numerous dams or reservoirs also produce mixed forms, e.g. by pumping water into their reservoirs at night and recovering energy from them during the day when there is an increased demand for electricity. Since it is not possible to clearly determine the amount of generated energy, all energy from hydropower is displayed separately.

In 2019, renewable energy accounted for around 77.9 percent of actual total consumption in Rwanda. The following chart shows the percentage share from 1990 to 2019:

Greenhouse gases emissions by countryMethane and CO₂ are the main greenhouse gases. This list names the biggest polluters by country.

Global warming by continentsAvg. temperatures from 1950 to 2023. Increased in Europe and North America - Antarctic colder again.

Climate and temperature development in AustriaA climate analysis for Austria incl. temperatures, humidity, rain days per month, hours of sunshine, water temperature, rainfalls