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Uganda: Govt Promises Lower Power Tariffs
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New Vision (Kampala)
17 April 2008
Posted to the web 18 April 2008
Ibrahim Kasita
Kampala
THE Government is to reduce power tariffs next year, the commissioner in charge of energy resources has disclosed.
"We are installing heavy-fuel oil plants to replace the expensive diesel thermal plants. That will make the cost of power cheaper," Paul Mubiru explained.
"Already, works on Bujagali hydro-power plant are in progress. Construction of the Karuma hydro-power plant will start this year. Once Karuma, Bujagali and the heavy-fuel plants are on line, electricity prices will come down."
Mubiru said the high tariffs were due to power losses and theft.
"Electricity losses are about 40%. This is factored into the end-user tariffs, which all of us have to pay. The public should join hands to fight power theft in order to bring down the tariffs," he said at the inception workshop for promotion of a project for solar water heaters at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
Already, a Norwegian power firm, Jacobsen Elektro is installing 50MW of heavy-fuel oil thermal generators at Namanve sub-statio. Initial power is expected in June.
A local power firm, Electro-Maxx, is building a 10MW similar plant in Tororo, while an Israeli company, Invespro, intends to build a 100MW plant in Mukono before the end of this year.
Tullow Oil, the firm exploring for oil in Hoima, has partnered with Jacobsen to build and install 100MW of heavy-fuel generators next year when the early oil production scheme starts.
Mubiru said the power supply deficit is about 90MW during peak hours.
"A study conducted in 2006 on the usage of domestic electric water heaters in homes in Kampala established that 41MW could be saved by installing 65,000 solar water heaters in urban areas," he said.
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"The overall objective is to save electricity during peak hours by switching water heating in households and institutions from grid electricity to solar energy."
Mubiru said the project would address barriers to widespread use of solar water heaters and would target the urban areas of Kampala, Jinja and Entebbe.
Last year, the Government procured 800,000 energy-saving bulbs, which were distributed freely. This resulted into the saving of 30MW.
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