Museveni launches Hoima power plant

By Brian Mayanja, Pascal Kwesiga and Robert Atuhairwe

President Yoweri Museveni yesterday launched the new Buseruka hydropower plant in Hoima district.

The President switched on the power plant in the afternoon and addressed residents at Buseruka primary school thereafter.

The dam is located on river Wambabya in Buseruka village, near Kabaale, where the government is building an oil refinery, a few metres off Kaiso-Tonya road.

The project has excited residents, hoping that it will reduce load shedding that has hindered the growth of local business in the area. 

Fred Kabagambe Kaliisa, the energy ministry permanent secretary, while on a recent tour, said the dam would boost the sector by lowering charges and enhancing the region’s development.

He pointed out that the people of Bunyoro would get stable power supply. Kaliisa noted that construction of a line to evacuate power from the dam onto the national grid at Kinubi substation in Hoima would be completed soon.

He added that part of the power would be used in the exploration industry in the Albertine region. 

The $30m-project will provide green energy, adequate to power over 1,000 households in Hoima and Masindi districts, in addition to lighting for hospitals schools, churches and community centres.

The dam, whose construction was funded by African Development Bank and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, has three turbines, with each producing three megawatts.

“Despite the initial challenges we faced during the implementation of the project, it has had the fastest completion time from licensing to commissioning,” said Maheshwara Reddy, the managing director of Dott Services, the firm that constructed the dam.

According to the project construction manager, Vijay Kumar, the power will be connected to the Hoima power substation, before it joins the national grid.