Description
Project Name: Luviro
Project Owner: Virunga Alliance
Standard: Verra VCS
Project ID: 2318
Since its commissioning in early 2021, the Luviro run-of-river hydroelectric station has emerged as a transformative force in the region. With a capacity of 14.6 MW, this facility powers the Lubero Province and the bustling commercial hub of Butembo, delivering clean, reliable energy to an equivalent of up to 30,000 direct beneficiaries. From households to small businesses, hospitals to public lighting, Luviro is illuminating lives and sparking economic vitality in a region long plagued by energy poverty, and armed conflict.
This cutting-edge project is a cornerstone of the ambitious Virunga Alliance, a visionary initiative designed to bring sustainable electricity to 4 million people in and around the Virunga National Park. Launched in 2013, the Alliance unites the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the Virunga Foundation, and over a hundred local partners from government, civil society, and the private sector. Together, they’re harnessing the park’s vast hydrological wealth (estimated at 105 MW of untapped potential) to drive a green economy that promises peace, prosperity, and progress for North Kivu.
Luviro exemplifies the brilliance of small-scale run-of-river hydropower: an environmentally savvy solution that requires no sprawling reservoirs, minimizing ecological disruption while maximizing efficiency. It not only stabilizes the local grid but also offers a scalable model for off-grid rural communities. By reducing reliance on deforestation-driven charcoal (a long threat to Virunga’s biodiversity) Luviro is a lifeline for both people and nature.
Rooted in the Congolese commitment to safeguard Virunga National Park and the 5 million souls within a day’s walk of its borders, the Virunga Alliance is more than an energy project. It fuses conservation with economic empowerment, creating over 300 jobs during construction and sustaining 20 permanent roles for operations. Add to that free electricity for 40 public institutions (schools, clinics, and streetlights) and Luviro is redefining what’s possible in a region still affectited by conflict.
The Virunga Alliance isn’t stopping here. With Luviro as a shining success, the goal is bold: scale up to 100 MW of clean energy by 2040 through a network of hydroelectric plants, including the under-construction 13 MW Rwanguba station. The Alliance is building a future where energy poverty is history, and Virunga stands as a global beacon of sustainable development. Luviro isn’t just a station; it’s the spark of a brighter, greener tomorrow.
Impact
The country has en enormous development potential thanks to a very abundant hydrological ressource.
The project is taking full advantage of this potential by using it instead of going for a more complex source of energy production.
The plant was build through advanced technology transfer from industrialized countries.
The project was constructed with modern technology which is of a higher standard than many power plants in Africa
Virunga Alliance used the local workforce to build the plant.
Job creation is boosting the economical activity of the region and is one of the best vector of development and pacification in the region. 300 jobs were created during the construction phase, and 20 permanent jobs for operation and maintenance.
DRC is a country where less than 1% of the population has access to electricity in rural aera
The project is allowing 30,000 beneficiaries to access an affordable and renewable energy.
CSR Action
Virunga supports the entrepreneurship by helping them to access financial resources that banks usually refuse them. A beneficiary can take out a loan which they reimburse with each purchase of electricity through an increased price per kWh.
Virunga provides free electricity to 40 public institutions and lighting in nearby villages. This lighting transforms social life as night time activities develop, whereas previously, few left their homes after dark for personal security fears. As of the end of 2019, over 300,000 people have benefited from these improvements.
Virunga supports the renovation of schools and hospitals, this significantly increases the quality of healthcare around the park, largely as a result of the ability to conserve medicines via refrigeration.
The mountain gorilla population is not only recovering but growing. In 2019, thanks to the exhaustive work of rangers over many years in the three countries that lie across the Virunga massif (DRC, Rwanda and Uganda), the species was downgraded from “critically endangered” to “endangered” for the first time since 1994.
In 2019, around 7,000 patrols were conducted by park rangers, which represents as increase of 11% from 2018. They covered around 42% of the territory of the park. Foot patrols alone covered over 45,000km in 2019.
Based on the experience and progress made over the past ten years, it is anticipated that its “green economy model” – sustainable economic development – could contribute $350 million of additional GDP by 2030.
