Umeme reinforces supply in Kasese amid blackouts

Umeme has integrated five mini-hydroelectricity plants in Kasese District to boost power reliability.
Electricity supply has been relatively unstable in the Kasese sub-region with Hima Cement and other factories facing the biggest share of losses.
However, the $2.7m (Shs10b) project has enabled Umeme to build switching stations to route power to Kasese.
“The job involved building switching on stations at Kibito, Rugendabara and Hima through which power from Nyabuhuka (3.2MW), Nsongya (9.4MW), Rwimi (5.5MW), Kakaka (5MW), Nyamba (7MW) mini-hydropower plants will be routed,” Mr James Harera Byaruhanga Umeme’s operations engineer, said on Monday. The power, according to Umeme, will pass through the switching stations to Nkenda substation for stepping up while that picked from Nkenda will flow to the switching stations and to customers.
The move is part of a strategic plan to increase power reliability to consumers, especially industries, which consume 70 per cent of the power distributed in the region.
Kasese District has a consumption of 20.8 megawatts with industries such as Hima Cement alone taking up 15MW.
Last year, Umeme commissioned a Shs14b substation in Tororo District to supply, especially factories such as Tororo Grinding Station and Simba Cement.
Electricity Regulatory Authority last year developed Quality of Service standards that set minimum levels on power outages. The regulator also plans to introduce penalties for suppliers who are not meeting set standards.

Mitigating Outages
Integration of the mini-hydropower plants with the grids in Kasese comes on the heels of Shs5.4 billion upgrade to the Ishaka substation to mitigate outages in Ishaka, Rukungiri and Kanungu districts.