- The government of Uganda has announced plans to build two solar and two wind farms in two regions in Uganda.
- This follows and agreement signed between the chairman of Independent Power Producer, Amea Power Hussain bin Jassim Al-Nowais and Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni.
According to the agreement, a 10MW solar photovoltaic power plant and a 10 MW wind farm will be located in the West Nile region of northwestern Uganda. Implementation of this project will begin before January 2021.
Amea also plans to to build the largest facility in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. Hussain bin Jassim Al-Nowais, head of Amea Power said that the company will construct a wind farm with a capacity of 120 MW. The solar power plant will be capable of supplying 80 MWp to the Ugandan electricity grid. Upon completion, the new projects will increase installed capacity on the African continent.
This news follows the recent announcement that Chinese State-owned energy conglomerate China Energy Engineering Corp Ltd has plans to develop 500 MW of solar generation capacity in Uganda.
Only 15% of Ugandans have access to electricity, 7% of which live in rural areas. Uganda currently has 850 Megawatts (MW) of installed capacity (with effective generation of approximately 710 MW), of which approximately 645 MW is hydro and 101.5 MW is thermal generating capacity. The Government of Ugandan is building additional large hydropower facilities, such as the 600 MW Karuma hydro and the 183 MW Isimba Falls hydro project. Source: USAID
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
