Government has revealed that once the 600MW Karuma Power Plant is commissioned and fully utilized, the weighted generation tariff will reduce from the current US Cents 6.47/kWh (Shs243.43) to US Cents 5.34/kWh (Shs200.93), indicating a 17.65% reduction
According to Eng. Simon D’ujanga, the Minister of State for Energy, power distributors like Umeme and other distribution companies will spend Shs200.9m to buy one Gigawatt from the Uganda Electricity Generation Company LTD (UEGCL) as compared to the current Shs243.4m, which they are paying for the same amount.
The industrial sector has the largest demand for electricity (64.6%), followed by consumers with 24.2% and commercial at 11.16% D’ujanga noted the target of 5 US Cents per unit of electricity has already been achieved during off-peak hours for extra-large consumers.
“This was possible following the conclusion of refinancing Bujagali Hydro Power Plant (tariff reduced from 10.1 US Cents to 8.3 US Cents),” he said
D’ujanga made these remarks, while launching the energy week at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday this week. The energy week will run between December, 1-4, 2020, under the theme: Energy and Minerals for Industrialization, Job Creation and shared prosperity
Uganda currently has a total installed generation capacity of 1,252MW, following the commissioning of the 183MW Isimba Power Plant last year.
“This generation capacity is expected to exceed 2,000MW by 2021 due to additional generation expected from Karuma (600 MW) and several small hydro power plants such as Kikagati (16MW), Nyamagasani I (15MW) and Nyamagasani II (5.9MW) and solar power plants. In the medium and long term,” he said adding,
“Government will develop the large and small hydro power projects including Ayago (840MW), Orianga (392MW), Kiba (400MW), Achwa I (42MW), geothermal resources is estimated to have electricity generation potential of 450MW, Nuclear, Solar and Wind, in pursuit of our vision 2040 goals,”
Meanwhile the minister took time to slap critics in the media who have been questioning why government is spending more in power “unwanted” power.
“You remember in 2015 when we ran out of power due to low generation capacity. It is like having a bus; it is better to have a 60 passenger bus even if you don’t have enough passengers than leaving some passengers on the roadside because of your low capacity,” he said.
He noted that the government has taken a keen interest to grow demand for electricity through the promotion of productive use of energy as well as the creation of industrial parks.The Industrial […]
