Kampala residents should prepare for power blackouts as several parts of the city are expected to experience load shedding. 

The development follows the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL) shutting down the Jinja city-based Nalubaale and Kiira hydropower dams due to a floating island.

Energy distributor Umeme sent out the communication via X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, saying: “Our supplier, UETCL, has informed us of a floating island at the Nalubaale and Kiira dams which has necessitated a shutdown of the two plants.

This development is affecting supply in the Kampala Metropolitan and surrounding areas following emergency load shedding until the floating island has been cleared”.

Previous incidents

This would not be the first time a floating island has threatened power generation. In April 2020, a floating island docked at Nalubaale hydropower station after it originated from Lake Victoria, in what Eskom Uganda Ltd said was as a result of raised water levels.

The presence of the Island at the dam reservoir created extensive debris and waste material that blocked the water intake screens through which water for power generation is transported leading to a national blackout.

It also caused the blockage of the cooling pipe systems that draw water from the dam reservoir for purposes of cooling the generating machinery.

This prompted Eskom to shift some power generation from Nalubaale Power Station to Kiira Power Station.

Eskom noted that the reason for shifting some of the generation was to minimise the risk to the generating units, which could arise due to the large amount of floating debris that was accompanying this floating island.