Bujagali adds 250MW to national grid
Jun 17, 2012
The multi-million dollar Bujagali hydropower project has finally achieved and exceeded the 250MW contracted capacity, which has been added onto the national grid for consumption.
By Ibrahim Kasita
The multi-million dollar Bujagali hydropower project has finally achieved and exceeded the 250MW contracted capacity, which has been added onto the national grid for consumption.
This development means Uganda can meet her electricity needs for at least two years from now. “There is no more load-shedding whatsoever because all the machines are running,” energy minister Irene Muloni confirmed.
“When our people do not get electricity starting now, then they should know that it is a technical problem and should report to Umeme the company distributing electricity.”
The minister said the machines were undergoing testing as the nation awaited the final commission next month.
Yesterday, the Bujagali Energy Ltd announced the successful completion of the mandatory seven-day reliability test run for the fifth unit. Unit four was commissioned two weeks ago.
Bill Groth, the project’s resident construction manager, said the development marks a milestone for the plant and is significant.
He said it confirmed that each of the individual units was capable of delivering the unit contracted capacity of 50MW, with five units operating together.
Groth explained that the commissioning of the fifth unit had been achieved ahead of the July 31 projected date. All units had been commissioned ahead of their respective projected commissioning dates.
“Today is a momentous day for Bujagali Energy Ltd and its sponsors, as well as the contractors, who have worked hard to deliver power ahead of schedule,” he said.
“What now remains is fine-tuning and testing, which may necessitate unit shutdowns, in order to guarantee reliable performance before we fully hand over the power station to the operation and maintenance team.”
Consumers will not experience load-shedding at any time as power deficit has been wiped out, at least for 24 months.
The $860m Bujagali hydropower project was commissioned, unit by unit, in response to energy ministry’s strategic decision to replace the expensive thermal power generation at the earliest date and minimise load-shedding.
The move was aimed at saving the money that was used to pay the expensive thermal power operations. The level of subsidy (payment for thermal power) had reached unsustainable levels and the cumulative amount of subsidy paid out was sh1.5 trillion.
Efforts are going to be made to ensure delivery of cheaper power supply solutions and ensuring reliable supply so that the country does not plunge into another power supply crisis,” said Muloni.