Kigali petroleum storage facility in Rwanda, the country’s first fully automated fuel depot

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The 22 million liters Kigali petroleum storage facility in Rwanda is the country’s first fully automated fuel depot. The facility was built to address the country’s growing fuel demand and also fulfills the requirements of a modernized and international fuel depot.

The Kigali petroleum storage facility was built on a 12-ha piece of land in the Gasabo District. It has the capacity to hold 10mn liters of diesel, 10mn liters of the essence, and two million liters of jet fuel.

In addition, the fuel depot also incorporates a fire fighting facility with a water storage capacity of 1.5mn liters. The firefighting facility can accommodate seven loading and three offloading trucks simultaneously.

Reported ealier

Dec 2014

Rwanda to construct a 21 million liter petroleum storage facility in the next four months

Rwanda is planning to construct a new petroleum storage facility that will have the capacity to store 21 million liters – a move that will help boost the overall national reserve that currently stands at 30 million liters.

The new facility will also aid in the country’s transportation and importation sectors in the industry.

It will be located in Gasabo District, Kigali, and it is anticipated to be complete in the next four months. The petroleum storage facility project is being constructed by Societe Petroliere Ltd (SP), a local company dealing in the transportation and distribution of petroleum products.

Jean-Paul Rubulika, the operations manager for Societe Petroliere Ltd has said the upcoming project will help Rwanda greatly since the country consumes about 25-30 million liters of petroleum a month – it means that in case of an emergency, the reserves would last for only a week.

The government is also seeking to boost the country’s capacity for more fuel stock – up to 150 million liters of petroleum – by partnering with private oil dealers.

Currently, the largest storage facility is Gatsata Depots – it has a capacity of 15 million liters. Kabuye, on the other hand, holds 5 million liters of petroleum. Both petroleum storage facilities are supplemented by smaller facilities located at Kigali International Airport and Rwabuye.

In terms of energy, Rwanda was planning to set up a US$12m hydropower plant in Nyabihu, Western Province.

Jun 2016

A US$ 22m fuel depot in Rwanda launched

A US$ 22m fuel depot in Rwanda has been launched by President Paul Kagame to help increase the country’s fuel storage capacity from 31 million to 74 million.

The new depot which is located in Rusororo Sector, Gasabo District, on the outskirts of Kigali was developed and financed by Societe Petroliere Ltd (SP) with extra financing from EcoBank. It will become the first fuel terminal in Rwanda that will have a 22-million-liter capacity and will have the ability to store 10 million liters of diesel, 10 million liters of the essence, and 2 million liters of jet fuel.

President Kagame was pleased with the facility and said that the depot comes at a good time when the price of petrol is going down and this is an advantage to Rwanda since it has no natural petroleum source.

“We celebrate the capacity gained in the petroleum sector because it can solve a number of issues and the fuel depot virtually brings Rwanda close to the ports,” Kagame said.

The new depot which was constructed on a 12-hectare piece of land is projected to fulfill the necessity of a modernized and international fuel depot that entails a comprehensive fire fighting facility with a water storage capacity of 1.5 million liters, loading and offloading gantries (that can handle 7 loading and three offloading trucks simultaneously), CCTV surveillance, well-equipped laboratory for product quality management and parking capacity of over 100 long haul trucks.

Chairperson of SP Group Mr. Egide Gatera said that the facility will bring Rwanda’s fuel storage to a long-awaited ambition.

According to Mr. Gatera, SP has plans to further increase the storage capacity of the depot to get to 60 million liters in the next five years. At the same time, they intend to enlarge their LPG storage capacity from 120MT to 1500MT.

SOCIETE PETROLIERE S.A.R.L is a petroleum company in Rwanda that offers a variety of petroleum products including petrol, diesel, and Paraffin among others.