- Erection of the last transmission tower built under the Uganda Grid Expansion and Reinforcement Project (GERP) is complete setting up connection of the West Nile Region to the National Grid.
- With the completion of construction of the 80MVA Arua Substation, a key part of the 132kV Kole -Gulu-Nebbi-Arua Transmission Line (289km) to the West Nile, commissioning the connection now begins.
According to the World Bank, Uganda’s power sector reforms and increase in generation capacity have not translated into greater access to electricity services and 86 percent of the population still remind without electricity services.
Inadequate and constraint transmission capacity in the country represents a bottleneck for increasing access to electricity services and fully utilize the generation installed capacity. The inadequate coverage of transmission lines is also preventing some of the SPPPs and isolated distribution companies to fully utilize the generation capacity that are currently providing electricity services.
600MW Karuma hydroelectric power station. Image credit: UMC
The West Nile Rural Electrification Company Limited (WENRECO) has an installed capacity of around 3.5MW (which includes 600MW from the Karuma hydro power station), with the potential to increase renewable generation, but the existing load on the isolated system is not sufficient to absorb the generation available and the lack of transmission interconnection prevents WENRECO to supply customers outside its distribution network.
With the new connection of the West Nile Region to the National Grid, the transmission bottleneck is unlocked and once fully commissioned, power can be evacuated into the National Grid.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
