Prime
Govt commissions Shs167 billion Gulu - Agago transmission project
State Minister for Energy Mr Sidronius Okasaai Opolot (left) speaks while commissioning the Gulu-Agago transmission substation at Angagura Town in Pader District on Wednesday afternoon. PHOTO/ JOLLY TOBBIAS
What you need to know:
The main objective of this project is to evacuate the Achwa Hydro Power Plant which is a strategic transmission line part of the power corridor intended to extend power to the West Nile region through the Gulu - Olwiyo – Nebbi – Arua transmission line.
The completion and commissioning of the 83km Gulu-Agago 132/33kV transmission line and associated substations will save the government USD 2.5 million (approximately Shs9.5 billion) in deemed energy payments.
On Wednesday, Mr Joshua Karamagi, the UETCL Chief Executive Officer, while speaking at the project’s commissioning ceremony at the Gulu-Agago substation in Angagura Town, Pader District said that the project completion is a crucial step to meet the growing energy demands of the country and save it from paying exorbitantly to private project developers for energy generated and not transmitted for consumption.
“It will save the government of Uganda deemed energy costs worth USD 2.5 million per month which has been a heavy cost on the government due to the absence of a transmission line to evacuate the generated electricity from the Aswa Hydropower Dam," Mr Karamagi said.
The main objective of this project is to evacuate the Achwa Hydro Power Plant which is a strategic transmission line part of the power corridor intended to extend power to the West Nile region through the Gulu - Olwiyo – Nebbi – Arua transmission line.
Mr Karamagi said that the Achwa - Gulu- Agago 132kV transmission line project construction work was completed after 18 months of construction when it was energized on November 18, 2023.
The project works commenced in September 2021 with the scope bundled into two lots.
Lot A comprised the construction of 132kV bays extension at Gulu 132/33kV substation, new Agago 132/33kV Air Insulated Substation (AIS), and 132kV bays extension at Agago HPP 132kV Switchyard, and the contractor was Larsen & Toubro Limited.
Lot B comprised the construction of an 83km double-circuit 132kV transmission line between the Gulu 132/33kV substation and Agago 132kV HPP switchyard via the proposed Agago 132/33kV Air Insulated Substation and the contractor was KEC International Limited.
The junior Energy Minister Mr Sidronius Okasaai Opolot, speaking as chief guest at the commissioning ceremony, said that the government had decided to scrap off deemed energy payment clauses from all electricity public-private agreements to avoid losses the government has incurred over time in deemed energy.
“By policy, we are removing clauses in the PPAs that have ‘take and pay'. That one will be out, and they will never appear in the PPAs anymore. The ministry and cabinet have come out stating that no new power agreement will be signed with clauses bearing deemed energy.”
“This Aswa project deemed energy payment has been a thorn in the flesh and if we pay USD2.5 million, imagine how much the government has lost and the missed opportunities in northern Uganda,” Mr Okassai wondered.
Meanwhile, Mr Milton Odongo, the Pader RDC asked the government to ensure that all the grievances stemming from the project-affected persons are settled to ensure support and ownership of the project in the community.
“There were several grievances that we managed to resolve but there are also others that have remained and are being handled at a strategic level. The service providers' issues are yet to be settled, there are pending payments to be made to them, and we hope they will be helped.”
To ensure sufficient electricity in the country, the government recently developed a National Generation Strategy to increase generation capacity to 52,000 MW by 2040.
By December 2023, the transmission network had increased from 1,132km in 2005 to the current 4,518.66 km while the distribution network length had increased from 6,496km in 2005 to the current 76,922 km.
