Government commissions Shs70b power plant
A section of the Nkusi small hydro power plant that will generate 9.6 megawatts. COURTESY PHOTO
Kampala- Government has commissioned the Nkusi small hydro power project developed at $18.5m (Shs70b) in Hoima District.
Mr Peter Lokeris, the Energy state minister, who represented Ms Irene Muloni, the Energy minister, said the plant symbolises sustained improvements in the energy sector that seeks to improve power supply in Uganda.
“This is clear evidence of the development in renewable energy resources to meet growing demands,” he said.
Nkusi is the eighth of the 17 small hydro power plants to be commissioned in the Global Energy Transfer - Feed in Tariff (GET-FIT) programme.
The small hydro plant programme, Mr Peter Lokeris said, brings total installed capacity from GET-FIT programme to 81.7 megawatts.
Nine others, which will add a combined 72 megawatts, are still under construction.
The electricity sub-sector, according to the Energy Ministry, has under the GET-FIT programme attracted $439m (Shs1.6 trillion) in private sector investment.
Introduced in 2012, the programme is an initiative of the government of Uganda and the German Development Bank.
It seeks to address short and medium term power generation requirements and is expected to add about 156 megawatts of clean renewable energy to the national grid.
The programme has also attracted €90m (Shs394b) from development partners such as Norway, UK and the European Union, among others.
Ms Susan Eckey the Norway ambassador to Uganda, said Uganda had been blessed with a state of the art plant that uses advanced technology.
Power produced from Nkusi will be evacuated by Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited and distributed by Uganda Electricity Distribution Limited.
The plant, according to Ms Ziria Tibalwa, the Electricity Regulatory Authority chief executive officer, which was contracted under the Renewable Energy Feed, seeks to lower tariffs to 11.4 US cents per kilowatt hour for 20 years.
Under the programme, GET-FIT development partners will contribute 1.3 US cents while consumers will contribute the remaining 10.1 US cents.
About Nkusi
The Nkusi small hydro power project was developed after two hikers in the Rwenzori Mountains realised its potential to generate power.
After attempts by five contractors, Mr Asa Katama, the PA Technical Services chief executive officer, in 2015 convinced Electricity Regulatory Authority, which picked on the idea to develop the plant.
Subsequently, a 920 metre tunnel was built to rechannel the Nkusi River waters.
Ms Ziria Tibalwa, the ERA chief executive officer, says the plant has been uniquely developed with a 13 per cent local shareholding.
