September 27, 2013

Uganda plans to spend $500 million to double the length of its power grid in four years. The country wants to expand its electricity generation infrastructure before its planned start of crude oil production by 2017.

At the 15th annual East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC) held in Nairobi during September, Simon D’Ujanga, Uganda’s state minister for energy, said the country plans to expand its power lines from 1,700 km to 3,400 km. There are six transmission line projects being implemented concurrently. Projects included lines serving domestic markets in Uganda, a separate line connecting it to Kenya and another to Rwanda.

In June 2013, Uganda signed a contract granting China’s Sinohydro a tender to build the 600 MW Karuma dam on the Nile River at a cost of $1.65 billion. Uganda is depending on Karuma to generate sufficient cheap power to meet fast-growing energy needs and support an economy eyeing double-digit growth rates once crude oil production starts. Growth is projected at about 6 per cent this fiscal year. Work on the Karuma dam had started in August 2013 and it should be commissioned in about 60 months. In addition, Uganda also plans to build a smaller hydro power plant, Isimba, on the Nile at a cost of $600 million.