The Uganda Energy Credit Capitalization Company (UECCC), a government company put in place to catalyse financing for renewable energy projects and increased access to clean and modern energy services is set to break ground for the construction of nine mini hydro power sites in the districts of Kasese, Bushenyi, Mitooma, Hoima, Kabarole, Bunyangabu and Bundibugyo.
The project is being funded by the ORIO Infrastructure fund (Now “Invest International”) of the government of the Netherlands to a tune of Euros 13.1 million (about Shs 50.3 billion) and co-financing from the government of Uganda with UECCC as the designated implementing agency of the project.
The project entails the construction of nine mini hydro power plants with a combined capacity of 6.7 megawatts and the construction of a local distribution network of 288 km in the project area as well as connecting up to 71,081 households and 2,300 small and medium-sized enterprises in the project areas.
According to UECCC managing director, Roy Nyamutale Baguma, the nine sites are going to be developed as a single project but in two phases with the initial phase comprising four sites which are going to be constructed over a period of 24 months from the groundbreaking time on February 1, 2025, in Mitooma district.
“We expect that when we implement this project, it will spawn investments in the areas of value addition, especially in the agricultural sector. Also, the availability of energy will mean that many service businesses will be established. We expect health and education services to be established which will lead to poverty alleviation and also addressing the Sustainable Development Goal of providing affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to Ugandans by 2030,” he said.
Baguma added that the areas were selected because of their challenging topography and geophysical conditions where it is not economical to wheel power over long distances and yet they have water sources which can be harnessed for power generation. He further noted that the basis for selecting the project sites was high social return in terms of rural electrification and not commercial viability.
Two contractors have been identified to implement the project; HNAC Technology Co. Ltd China for the civil and hydro-mechanical works and Ossberger GmbH from Germany for the design, manufacture, supply and install the electro-mechanical works of the project.
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great improvement.