Ibrahim Kasita
15 August 2007
Kampala — POWER production at the Owen Falls Dam is unlikely to increase because the Lake Victoria water levels have not risen even with the recent heavy rains, industry sources said.
Owen Falls Dam that has both Kiira and Nalubaale power stations, is producing 145 mega watts from the installed capacity of 380 mega watts due to the low water levels.
An energy ministry official, who declined to be named, said the lake's current water levels stand at 11.20 metres, little changed from three month ago when it was 11.23 metres.
"It has been raining and much of the water goes directly to the lake.
"But much of the lake water is lost through evaporation due to too much heat we are experiencing.
"A lot of water is lost through this process. When it was raining around March/April, the temperatures were low and the rate of evaporation was low. But now, the temperatures are up and the rate of evaporation is high," he said.
Eskom, the firm operating the Jinja complex, discharges 905 cubic metres per second to generate the 145 mega watts.
However, the water regulator, the Directorate of Water Development, prefers 750 cubic metres per second water discharge under the Agreed Curve policy, which allows about 563 cubic metres per second. The Agreed Curve water discharge does not allow all the installed turbines to operate.
There have been numerous reductions of water discharge for power production since last year. This has prevented enough generation of power.
In February 2006, the water outflow was reduced from over 1,000 cubic metres to 850 but this was later reduced to 750 cubic metres in August. Early this year, the outflow was increased to 905 cubic metres.
Experts said even when the outflows were lowered, the lake continued to decline further, which demonstrated that though the Agreed Curve is a good outflow management tool, it is not a tool for lake recovery.
They warned that a drastic move to the Agreed Curve will put the sector and economy in a power crisis. They explained that the Agreed Curve cannot be relied upon to plan for optimum electricity supply.
"A decision to reduce hydro-power production should take into account the burden of expensive thermal power as an alternative.
"Thermal power should not be seen as a substitute for hydro-power in an effort to move towards the Agreed Curve. This is because the result to the consumer will be a burden of expensive thermal power with no improvement in the power supply," energy experts argued.
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