KAMPALA, Uganda
Uganda and Tanzania have committed to building the 400kV Masaka-Mutukula-Kyaka-Nyakanazi-Mwanza transmission line. Uganda will sell surplus power, and Tanzania will meet its demand for electricity.
During her two-day state visit
to Kampala last week, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu and her Ugandan
counterpart Yoweri Museveni witnessed the signing of an inter-governmental
memorandum of understanding for the development of the 400kV transmission line
linking the two countries.
Uganda’s Minister for
International Affairs Henry Okello Oryem and Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs and East African Co-operation Liberata Mulamula signed the MoU on
behalf of their respective countries.
Officials of the Uganda
Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL) said it is too early to talk about
the start, cost and completion details.
“The MoU has just been signed
meaning there is nothing really done yet [before] there is sourcing for
funding, feasibility studies and all,” said Pamela Nalwanga Byoruganda, the
UETCL spokesperson.
With additional generation
from Karuma and other smaller hydropower plants, Uganda’s total installed
capacity will increase to nearly 2000MW, up from the current 1,346.6MW, against
the country’s peak demand for electricity, of 794MW, the Electricity Regulatory
Authority said.
Tanzania’s electricity demand
is growing at an annual rate of 13.82 percent, and will outstrip the country’s
installed capacity,
According to the Global Transmission
Report, Tanzania’s power needs are expected to rise from 10,176GWh in 2022 to
28,663GWh in 2030, which requires approximately 9,000MW of new generation added
to the grid in the next eight years.
According to UETCL, Uganda
exports electricity to Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
South Sudan,
In the period between June
2020 and June 2021, Uganda exported a total of 294.1MW, which earned the
country $26.84 million, up from $24.5 million earned from 246.3MW exported the
previous year, a Bank of Uganda report for the sector shows.
The central bank said that
export receipts have showed growth in recent years, with Kenya being the
biggest exporter. – The East African
No comments:
Post a Comment