Powering Healthcare in Rwanda: Market Assessment and Roadmap for Healthcare Facilities

Developed with support from Power Africa, this report aims to provide the government and its development partners with data on the scale of the remaining energy gap in the healthcare sector, and options of long-term sustainable models and estimates of investment needed for delivery of continuous and reliable electricity service. 

Of the 2,139 health facilities in the country, 85 percent (1,813) are connected to the grid. This figure includes all the secondary and tertiary health centres - all of which have a battery backup - and 74 percent of the health posts. A third of the remaining health posts is already powered by standalone solar PV systems, leaving a total of 229 health posts without access to a reliable and renewable electricity source.  

This creates a market opportunity to connect these health posts to solar PV systems, phase out diesel generators, as well as provide better battery backup for the other health facilities. USD 10 million would be needed to achieve these outcomes, as defined in the report’s “roadmap” – USD 1.5 million for standalone PV systems in off-grid health posts and USD 8.5 million for battery backup in grid-connected health facilities.