Queensway substation to be commissioned in March 2017

The construction works for Queensway electricity substation on Entebbe Road is on due course with over 45% of the physical construction works complete and 100% of all equipment already delivered to the substation site. The substation is projected to be commissioned in March 2017.

The planning engineer for the station, Bright Masereka, said Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) supplies electricity to Kampala CBD through four primary substations of Lugogo, Mutundwe, Kawaala and Kampala North with a total installed capacity of 460MVA.

He added that the current electricity demand in Kampala city is 380MW (over 80% of the total installed capacity), yet the power supply cannot be sustained without installation of an additional substation.

"The existing Queensway distribution substation currently supplying electricity to the city centre was financed with a grant from Government of Japan in 1993 with a design life of 15 years. The substation is operating at about 95% of its capacity and equipment is aged and obsolete - a situation that compromises the reliability of power supply to the city as a result of frequent breakdown," he noted.

Queensway substation under construction

 
The state minister for energy Simon D'Ujangu noted that the section is old. Therefore, to improve the electricity supply to the city, the Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)  extended grant financing to the Uganda Government for the improvement of the Queensway substation.

Masereka added that the scope of work for improving the Queensway substation includes installation of three transformer units of 40MVA 132/33kV each, which is a 17% increase in capacity to deliver electricity to the city centre.

"The substation is designed to use the Gas Insulated Switchgear (CIS) technology in order to minimize the space required and increase the reliability of the installation. The project is, therefore, expected to address both the capacity constraint and also improve the reliability of electricity supply to the Kampala City Centre," he explained.

 
The Japanese Ambassador to Uganda, Kazuaki Kameda, said JICA has expressed interest in financing the Kampala Metropolitan Transmission System Improvement project to strengthen the electricity transmission grid in the Kampala Metropolitan area and improving the reliability and ability to deliver the power generated at Karuma and Isimba hydropower stations to the Kampala Metropolitan area.