Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development reports that considerable progress has been made in the area of increasing electricity generation capacity through construction of large hydropower plants such as the Isimba Hydropower Plant (183 MW) that was commissioned in March 2019, bringing total installed capacity to 1,202 MW. Next up is the Karuma Hydropower Project (600 MW) to be commissioned during Q1 2020.
Other Projects under construction include the Agago – Achwa hydropower projects (83 MW) and a number of renewable energy projects under the Global Energy Transfer – Feed-in-Tariffs (GETFiT) program. These total over 72 MW and include Siti II 16. 5 MW, Kyambura HPP 7.6 MW, Sindila HPP 5.3 MW, Nyamagasani I 15 MW, Nyamagasani II 5 MW and Kikagati HPP 16 MW.
According to the most recent UBOS electrification survey, the national electricity access rate now stands at 50% with 26% on the grid and 24% on the off-grid. According to Vision 2040, for Uganda to achieve the desired socio-economic transformation, it will require to have 41,738 MWs by the year 2040 thus
increasing the country’s electricity consumption per capita to 3,668 kWh. In addition, access to the national grid will also have to increase from the current 26% to over 80%.
Uganda’s demand for power is growing at about 10% per annum implying the need for the continuous development of renewable energy sources including hydro which is one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy. In the effort to realize these targets set in Vision 2040, a number of projects are being studied. These include teh Kiba Hydropower Project (400 MW), Oriang Hydropower Project (392 MW) and Ayago Hydropower Project (840 MW).
Toward this end, the Government of Uganda signed a Memorandum of Understanding with M/S Bonang Energy and Power Ltd from the Republic of South Africa leading a consortium that includes among others Norconsult and JSC Institute Hydro project to undertake detailed feasibility studies. The company applied for a permit to ERA to carry out a detailed feasibility study to guide the decision on the development of the proposed Uhuru Hydropower Project.