The Songa Energy team visited the Kayongozi hydropower site in Ruyigi Province of Burundi. This site, located in the eastern part of Burundi, provides electricity onto the national grid and to the local surrounding community. The engineer who participated in the design of this site, Pontien Ntunzwenimana, is working for Songa Energy as our civil engineer. It was exciting to tour a power plant that has many similarities to the one we will build on the Ruvyironza River.
The first piece of construction you notice when arriving at the facility is a long canal. Constructed out of stones and cement, the canal brings water from the dam to the power station. The dam has created a small reservoir, and the flow of water out of the reservoir and into the canal is controlled by a series of user-controlled gates that open and close to let the desired amount of water go through the stream bed or into the canal and to the power station. From the canal, the water is carried down a series of metal pipes, which bring water into the turbines in the power station. The force of the water spins turbines, which turn generators that produce electricity.