[2] The power plant is located in Kibuye, Karongi District, in the Western Province of Rwanda, approximately 135 kilometres (84 mi), by road, west of Kigali, the capital and largest city in that country.

[3] Starting in 2006, with partial financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the government of Rwanda began sourcing for qualified engineering firms to design, build and operate a methane gas-powered electricity generating power plant, using gas extracted from the depths of Lake Kivu.

[4] One of the objectives of this project, was to prove that it was possible to generate electricity from methane gas in the lake in on a profitable commercial basis.

[7] A partnership with Dane Associates, an Edinburgh-based enterprise broke up over financial disagreements.

It has also agreed to develop Kivu 56 Power Station, a 56 megawatts (75,000 hp), methane-powered electricity-generating plant.