Uganda is to increase its electricity connection efforts especially targeting schools, hospitals, trading centres and value-addition centres, according to state minister for energy Sidronious Okaasai.

Okaasai said that more focus is being put on connecting electricity to the new seed secondary schools being built in an effort to increase electricity consumption.

“We are putting more efforts in connecting value addition centres, water pumping stations, where electricity can be used for production,” Okaasai said.

The minister said this while addressing the evaluation workshop for bridging the demand and supply gap through the accelerated rural electrification programme project. The function took place at the Serena Hotel Kampala on Thursday.

The programme seeks to connect the sub-counties that have been left in darkness from the national power grid. About 287 sub-counties countrywide that lack electricity supply. The project targets over 170,000 customers that would be connected directly to the grid during the three years of implementation.

Okaasai tipped Ugandans to use the increased availability of electricity supply for value addition and productive activities.

“We are looking for universal coverage of electricity by 2025. By 2040 we want to be producing 52,418mw of power in Uganda,” Okaasai explained.

The Government is committed to fostering technological and business model innovation, entrepreneurship, finance mobilisation, local capacity building and community engagement to support the translation of energy access into measurable economic development.

The Government is implementing projects that include the following types; grid extension, independent grids and off-grid solutions, photovoltaic systems and Renewable energy generation projects.

The Electricity Connections Policy targets to achieve a 60% connection rate by the year 2027, representing 6,303,923 households both on-grid and off-grid, of which 67% (4,223,628 households) are to be realised on the Grid. The annual target has been set at 300,000 connections.

The Electricity Connections Policy has quantified the required funding to achieve a 60% access rate by 2027 as $558.4m (sh2.1 trillion).

The Government seeks to facilitate the provision of reliable, stable and equitable electricity services through on-grid, off-grid and standalone solar systems to all Ugandans towards achieving universal access by 2030.

TBEA Co. Ltd is currently undertaking a rural electrification programme of building power lines in part of a big project in 91 districts. The project covers 3,449.1km of Medium Voltage (MV), 7,131.61km of Low Voltage (LV) and the installation of 1,926 distribution transformers.

At the event China’s Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong in a speech read for him by David Wang, First Secretary of the Embassy China to Uganda said that China’s financing for Uganda’s infrastructure projects are mostly concessional loans with low interest rates.

“The loans (from China) don’t attach any political strings nor have any hidden agenda. It has provided a new reliable alternative for Uganda to invest in its infrastructure,” Lizhong said.

He said that the project of ‘Bridging the Demanding Supply Balance Gap through the Accelerated Rural Electrification Programme’ is implemented by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, with a concessional loan of $212m (sh796b) from the Export-Import Bank of China. He commended the contractors TBEA Co., Ltd for the significant progress achieved so far.

Lizhong explained that the construction of the project will improve the coverage of rural electrification, and accelerate the process. The economic and social development in the local Community will be promoted, as well as the lives of local residents.

The ambassador expressed hope that the Chinese and Uganda business community can further understand the unique advantages of Uganda, seek business opportunities and deepen cooperation, which will definitely benefit the people of both countries.

Expanding rural access to electricity is seen as a critical factor driving demand. An estimated 49% of Uganda’s population currently lacks electricity. Government pledges that investment in Uganda’s energy sector will continue to focus on increasing energy access by increasing supply, boosting distribution and transmission networks.

Uganda’s current level of rural electrification is significantly low; only 8% of rural residences have grid connectivity, 3% have solar home systems, 28% rely on solar lighting systems or solar lanterns, and less than 1% are electrified through mini-grids

A new electricity law has been passed to improve the regulation and governance of the electricity sector. Over the past years, Uganda faced severe constraints in the power sector in terms of generation, transmission, distribution, innovation and financing among others.

The low level of electricity connectivity is a major barrier for economic development and poverty reduction most in areas remote from the national grid. Many communities, homes, and businesses do not have access to electricity due to expensive grid connection fees including high house wiring fees.