With its vast network of rivers, Burundi is endowed with abundant hydropower resources. However, most of this potential remains untapped, as there has been limited private investment into this sector to date. While the production and supply of electricity are almost entirely State-owned, rates of electricity access in Burundi remain among the lowest in the world. In 2020, the national electrification rate was only 12%, with the capital Bujumbura concentrating three-quarters of this usage and suffering from frequent supply interruptions due an unreliable electricity grid.
To help project developers and business owners understand Burundi’s renewable energy investment opportunities, GET.invest has recently launched a Market Insight package to help leveraging market research for sound investment, which includes a developer guide and two model business cases.
This new free toolkit examines the key market actors, the business models being deployed, the potential market size for small hydropower, the forces driving or hindering market growth, the potential financiers, and other opportunities and challenges that exist for small hydropower development in Burundi. The ‘route-to-market’ section of the guide presents practicable steps to leverage GET.invest’s market research, exploring investment opportunities, market sizing, business registration, regulations, the financing landscape, and profiles of energy suppliers in each value chain.
In addition, two hypothetical model business cases provide concrete financial analysis examples:
- a 100 kW hybrid solar PV-micro hydropower mini-grid providing power to an off-grid rural community, and
- a 150 kW hydropower project serving a grid-connected tea processing facility.
Project developers or business owners looking for new investment opportunities may download the new Market Insight package for Burundi here.