The Karuma hydropower project is nearing completion with the first unit of 100MW expected to be commissioned in October.

The contractor, Sinohydro Cooperation Limited, says their work was partly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Karuma Hydropower project Deputy Project Manager,  Eng. Paul Tumwine said they have done installations, and are already doing dry tests.

The plant is expected to commission six units in phases.  

The $1.7b (about sh6trillion) plant is expected to be fully commissioned around August 2023 and is expected to generate a total of 600MWs to the national grid.

Tumwine said three of the six units are scheduled to be commissioned before the end of this year; with the first unit to be commissioned in October.  

The commissioning of the three units will see another 300MWs of electricity added to the national grid.

The project started in 2013, funded largely by the Export-Import Bank of China, and was initially expected to be completed in five years, with a total generation of 600MW.

“We have reached a point of doing dry tests. This means installation works are complete and therefore we hope to meet the targets set in our schedule,” Tumwine noted.

This was during the visit by the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong and his counterpart, the Uganda ambassador to China, Oliver Wonekha on Saturday.

The Project/Commercial Manager of the Station Bin Kouzhi said they are confident that the first three units will be commissioned on schedule.

He said currently the hydropower station site completion is at 99.16% while the transmission lines stand at 97.6%.

Wonekha noted that the project is important for the social-economic growth of the country.

“This will solve the issue of load shedding and we will also be supplying to neighbours in the region. What we have seen, and the figures we have been told, facts on the ground; I think it is soon happening,” she noted.

China ambassodor to Uganda Zhang Lizhong2

Lizhong (Ambassador of China to Uganda) noted that a lot of progress has been made.

He said as the ambassador of China to Uganda, he wants to see a high-quality project that benefits Ugandans.

“That is why I am here to see what is happening,” he noted.