Umeme, UETCL light up the North

Mr Johnson Odong’s welding business in Lira suffers power outages. Between a day to as long as a week, the power outage can last, he says.
Electricity sector players have increased the rigor with which they tackle power challenges in the northern region of the country.
The northern region which includes Lira, Kitgum and Gulu, among others, is supplied through one line which is based in Lira.

Formerly housing a 20 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) transformer at the Lira transmission substation, the northern region was vulnerable to outages whenever its (transformer) was affected.
To ensure the region maintains its power supply, government through Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), has procured and installed another transformer with 20MVA capacity.
Onboarding of the new transformer Mr John Ediru, Lira substation supervisor UETCL says will ensure reliability for the entire northern region.

“We have only been having one transformer. So when a transformer goes off, the entire northern region goes off. But now, if this one goes off, we can switch to the other one,” he says.
The northern region is currently served by the longest and oldest evacuation line running from Tororo to Lira, over 275km. The line was constructed just a year after Uganda got her independence.

The 56 -year old, 132 kilo voltage (kV) line, has undergone numerous maintenance opreations over the years attributed to its wooden state which is affected by harsh weather conditions and termite infestation, among others.
Government is currently transferring the wooden pole structure to steel pylons which are more durable and have endurance for weather conditions.
While the shift is close to completion, the process has spent well over six years because of land acquisition and compensation challenges.

“We have had issues with land acquisition. But the court injunctions have been lifted and works are ongoing. The project that was supposed to last two years is now going on up to 2019 yet it should have been finished,” Ms Pamela Nalwanga, principal public relations manager UETCL says.
Upon completion, the electricity infrastructure will have formed a ring which will allow for power reliability.
This means when one substation is down, power can then be picked from another substation to supply the region.

Karuma
For instance, construction of the Karuma 1 and Karuma 2 line is underway to ensure supply of power from 600megawatt Karuma dam to the northern region.
Out of 150 towers needed for the Karuma lines, 45 are yet to be erected.

There are plans, Mr Ediru says, to put up a substation around Kole that will receive power from Karuma, and the Achwa dam, whose construction is still ongoing.
“It means we shall have about six lines supplying Lira. There is no probability or possibility that the northern region will be out of power,” he says.

Distribution
On the distribution end, Umeme is also upgrading the101km Lira-Gulu line which has been affected by termites, bush burning, vandalism all of which disrupt power supply in the region.
Mr Wilfred Kaweesa, Umeme’s customer service engineer northern region, says the power distributor has embarked on massive interim interventions such as deploying 80 emergency contractors to refurbish the line.

“Three years back, we started a journey to refurbish the line. In 2017, 130 poles were replaced and 80 poles in 2018. We have so far replaced about 80 poles and we continue to replace until a permanent solution comes on board,” he says adding that the line is made up of 1,000 poles.
Replacing of poles is envisaged to boost power reliability especially from Lira to Gulu.
Umeme is also upgrading the capacity of Gulu substation from the current 7.5MVA to 10MVA.
This means Gulu will have twice the capacity as its demand of only 5MVA.

According to Umeme, the reform will encourage setting up of industries in the region, which is designated to become a city in the near future.
Works are also ongoing for the temporary 33kV distribution line from the Achwa dam to serve Gulu substation upon its commissioning expected before the end of this year.
Some of these interventions are expected to surface before the end of this year. If realised, the northern region will be rid of electricity unreliability challenges.

Money
UETCL has invested over $26.8m (Shs98.9b) in upgrading of the Tororo-Lira line while refurbishing Lira-Gulu distribution line will be covered by Shs30b that government approved under Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited.