The first electric power to be generated from methane gas extracted from Lake Kivu came online last week, boosting Rwanda’s grid by 1.8 megawatts.

The government says the initial output is enough to supply the whole of Rubavu district where Lake Kivu is found.

The country is expecting to produce some 100 megawatts of electricity once the project is completed.

The basin of Lake Kivu has been found to have high concentrations of natural gas with a capacity to support production of 700 megawatt for over 55 years.

Rwanda has been toying with small-scale projects to burn methane gas for decades, and in June 2007 signed an agreement with an Israeli company to work on the project at Lake Kivu.

The Rwanda Investment Group (RIG)-a consortium of local investors-plan to generate another 35 megawatts of power from Lake Kivu.