The contract extension for Uganda’s 50 MW Lugogo thermal plant is set to expire according to Uganda’s Monitor. The extension will be allowed to end to pave the way for the introduction of heavy-fuel generators which the government says is less expensive than diesel generators.
Heavy-fuel oil thermal power is less than half the price of ordinary diesel generators. According to the figures a unit of power from Lugogo is at $0.25 compared to the Namanve heavy-fuel oil thermal plant where a unit will be at about $0.14.
The Uganda Electricity Transmission Co. and Aggreko International entered into an agreement in May to extend the contract for three months following the expiration of the original three-year contract. The three-month extension was to give the Namanve plant time to come online.
The Monitor reported that when Jacobsen Elektro, the firm building and installing the equipment at Namanve, was asked whether the plant would be ready by the September 1 start-up date, managing director Dag Moen said: "We shall have power. We already have 13-14MW because we are testing the machines. But we shall have more power next week."
"We are progressing according to plans. Final preparations are underway to provide 100% capacity of the plant," Moen explained.