Uganda has introduced its renewable energy feed-in tariff (Refit) joining Kenya and South Africa, but the East African country is offering a twist compared to its African neighbors.
Uganda has geared its Refit to a plethora of sectors, including varying tariffs for hydropower projects that range from 1 MW to 8 MW, geothermal, and bagasse. The tariff also proposes capacity caps per year, less than 20 MW, for each technology; however, projects with an installed capacity greater than 20 MW will be required to negotiate a tariff and PPA with the system operator on a case by case basis.
The Refit will be managed and implemented by Uganda’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ERA) as part of its mandate under the Electricity Act of 1999. The tariffs for each priority technology will be determined by using a $/kWh leveled cost approach based on the electricity generation costs from the RE source. The ERA said in its Refit document that this is aimed at providing an after tax internal rate of return to equity holders equal to an assumed cost of equity capital in order to provide sufficiently high tariffs and avoiding windfall profits. The ERA said, “The key inputs are based on general investment assumptions and specific assumptions for each of the priority technologies that influence the power generation costs.”
For more information on Uganda’s Refit, please look at the Uganda Renewable Feed-in Tariff Phase 2.
Alternative Energy Africa is trying to reduce its own carbon footprint in 2011. Ask about our electronic subscriptions and online marketing campaigns specially tailored for individual companies.