- The 183.2 MW Isimba Hydro Dam project will be commissioned on 24th January 2019.
- The facility is located on the Nile River in Kyandongo District in mid-northern Uganda, 110km downstream of Lake Kyoga.
The Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) is set to commission the Isimba hydropower dam by the end of this month. UEGCL corporate affairs’ manager, Simon Kasyate, revealed this in an interview with the Daily Monitor on Saturday.
It is reported that the dam’s four Kaplan turbine generator units were up and running by last Friday (11 January 2019) when the utility’s board of directors concluded their routine appraisal of the project. Each generator has a capacity of 45.8MW per unit, thereby providing a combined installed capacity of 183.2MW.
“We have written to the President, inviting him for the commissioning of this project on January 24. We are still waiting for response from him,” said Kasyate. He said commercial production and trade of power from Isimba dam will begin in March this year. “That is when our commercial rates and charges will be applicable,” Kasyate indicated.
According to USAID, Uganda has one of the lowest electrification rates in Africa, at approximately 19% in 2017. The Isimba project will complement the country’s existing hydro generation capacity of 645 MW.
Author: Babalwa Bungane
This article was originally published on ESI Africa and is republished with permission with minor editorial changes.
