(L-R) Hon Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs, Baroness Sandip Verma, Chairperson, Nexus Green Limited and Rikki Verma, Chief Executive Officer Nexus Green Limited interacting during the prelaunch of 516 KWP solar power plant at Kololo Ceremonial Ground Kampala on February 25, 2022. Photo | Ismail Musa Ladu What you need to know:
This was revealed by the Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Mr Vincent Ssempijja, at the pre commissioning of the 516Kw Hybrid solar power plant at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala at the weekend.
President Yoweri Museveni has instructed the Ministry of Defence to see to it that all army barracks in the country transition from the costly hydro generated electricity to a more affordable solar energy.
This was revealed by the Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Mr Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja at the pre commissioning of the 516Kw Hybrid Solar Plant power plant at Kololo ceremonial grounds over the weekend.
According to Minister Ssempijja, power bills are straining defence sector budget, justifying what he referred to as “strategic decision” by President Museveni to transition from “the expensive hydro generated power” to more affordable solar energy for all the army/military barracks in the country.
He said: “Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs like elsewhere has been running a constrained budget. One of the areas of stress has been utilities, and more specifically the electricity where we have been incurring an astronomic bill of about Shs 19.7 billion annually with a budget deficit of about 63 per cent, therefore reverting to solar is the way for us to go.”
He continued: “Special thanks go to the Board and Executive of M/s Nexus Green for their ingenuity and zeal, to interest us in Solar Power generation as an alternative to clean energy source that will gradually wean us from biting high UMEME power bills.”
In his remarks on Friday, Mr Ssempijja noted that the 1.8million Euros development executed by Nexus Green, British Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) company, is a realization of the Strategic intent of the President and Commander-in-Chief, whose guidance is: “Reduce expenditure on electricity by looking at the option of running the barracks on Solar Power,”
And this was the “genesis of this innovative and strategic project" being executed by Nexus Green. However, the rollout to other barracks will depends on the performance and results of this pilot projects, according to Mr Ssempijja.
“I am confident that the […]