Museveni meeting Chinese investors at State House, Entebbe on Wednesday President Museveni has said he will engage the Speaker of Parliament to fast-track the amendment of the Umeme Act and ensure that electricity goes directly from generation to the industrial consumer to spur economic growth through industrialization.
“Power should go directly from generation to the consumer, especially the industrial consumer,” said Museveni.
“We should amend the law. I will talk to the speaker,” the President said Wednesday during a meeting with Chinese investors from the Mbale Industrial Park who protested their omission from the direct power consumption despite having a bigger industrial park than MMP Industrial Park in Buwampa, Buikwe district.
The development comes after the government blocked new investments by power distributor, Umeme, as it searches for a new investor who will help in bringing down the cost of electricity and improve the quality of the distribution network as well as extend power to more homesteads.
While Umeme’s contract ends in 2025, President Museveni has advised against the contract renewal.
Museveni’s main grievance is that power distributed by Umeme remains expensive, undermining efforts to industrialize the economy.
Despite making large sums of money, the grid remains horrible, complicating efforts to evacuate more electricity to customers.
According to previous reports conducted by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), for every 1 percent reduction in tariffs, there is an automatic increase in electricity consumption of 2.7 percent in Uganda.
This means that for every 1 percent increase in GDP you need a 2.5 percent increase in electricity consumption in Uganda.
Law
MMP Industrial Park and Kapeeka Industrial Park are on a pilot trial for direct power consumption pending the amendment of the law to allow all industrial parks to access direct power affordably.The meeting was attended by Ms. Zhang Zhichum CEO Tang Group, Wang Wentong General Manager Tian Tang Group Li Wenchao Deputy General Manager Mbale Industrial Park Ming Qian Sun and investor Yang Li.During the meeting, a power investor Mr. Ming Qian Sun of Zhurong Hydropower Consumption Park also presented a proposal for a Power Purchase Agreement guaranteeing 300MW of power supply at a tariff of US$ 3.5cents and 15 acres of land close to Karuma Hydro Powerplant.Zhurong Hydropower is interested in bulk power purchase, potentially being the largest power off-taker in Uganda.“Once we reach full capacity, power bills paid by us alone will equate to 2% of the government spending. We connect directly to Karuma Substation at […]
