Ricks Kayizzi
30 April 2004
Kampala — THE Government has shortlisted five firms for the delayed Bujagali Dam project on which construction will begin next year, the energy ministry has said.
An American firm, AES Nile Power, was forced out of the $550m project last year after it ran into financial problems.
Energy state minister Daudi Migereko said since AES's pullout, the Government had been considering options like funding the project with a private investor.
"Ten firms initially tendered in their bids but five were shortlisted," Migereko said in an interview on Wednesday.
"Our bid evaluation committee is analysing all the offers and will disclose the findings soon. We expect construction to begin by the end of 2005," he said.
Migereko said the bidding was very competitive and they hoped to get value for money at the end.
"Our view was that the initial construction budget presented by AES was inflated. We hope to bring it down," he said.
Migereko said they were looking at the Build-Own and-Transfer arrangement with the private investor.
"Our traditional development partners, the World Bank and International Financial Organisation will help us identify the investor and fund the project. The Government will get a stake in the project through capital infusion," Migereko (right) said.
However, he said the project, which is expected to yield about 300MW, will cater for the rising demand of existing power.
"Demand for electricity is growing by 8.5% per year, which reflects an additional need of between 20 and 30MW per annum," Migereko said.
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