Umeme to collaborate with sector players to stabilise supply

Power distributor Umeme is to pursue a more interactive approach with other players in the electricity supply industry to solve the challenges consumers are facing.

This was revealed during a recent tour by Umeme board members to different industry stakeholders in the eastern part of the country. During the tour, the board members visited Tororo Solar plant, Electromaxx thermal plant, Tororo Cement Industries, Tororo Phosphates Company and Hima Cement, all in Tororo district, as well the Siti1 hydro plant in Bukwo district.

Stronger relations The visit was aimed at building stronger relations between the customers, the management and the board through listening to and understanding clients' challenges.  It also aimed at finding the best ways to solve the customers' supply challenges.

Tororo Cement process manager, Peter Karanja, said they had previously encountered power fluctuations before the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) swung into action by introducing a temporary 50-megawatt mobile substation to stabilise supply to the Tororo industrial hub, as a permanent solution is sought. Karanja asked Umeme to permanently stabilise power distribution in the Tororo industrial area.

Robert Mooli, the Hima Cement plant systems and electrical engineer, shared similar sentiments with the Umeme board members. Both Karanja and Mooli commended the UETCL initiative, saying it had greatly stabilised supply in the Tororo industrial hub. "There has been relative stability in supply during the month of June, which we highly appreciate.

We request a 132kv dedicated transformer and switchgear to permanently eliminate fluctuations, dips and improve our operations," Karanja said. Tororo district has of recent seen an influx of industries that include National Cement and Hima Cement, setting up in the area. The originally existent Tororo Cement Industries (TCI) has also expanded and increased its production capacity.

Since the new factories started setting up in the area, Blessing Nshaho, the Umeme chief corporate and regulatory officer, said they have been working with other key stakeholders to find quick solutions in providing reliable power supply.

Nshaho said they would continue pursuing dialogue with other players in the sector to ensure that any remaining reliable supply challenges were fully addressed. "It is upon us to engage with other sector players such as transmission and generation companies, as well as the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) to solve the challenges the customers face," Nshaho said.

"For example, when we had power fluctuation challenges, we engaged UETCL and they responded by providing a mobile substation that has brought some relief to the consumers. This shows that without UETCL, there is little we can do to provide the best quality of power to our customers," Nshaho added.

Board member Pieter Adrian Faling said: "We have to work in a collaborative way with the regulator and the transmission company for the benefit of the industry. We are not an island on our own, yet we are the ones facing the customers."

Power reliability Joselyn Rwabogo, the Umeme customer service engineering manager for greater Uganda, said they were finalising works on the Nyakesi substation to further boost power supply reliability in the area. The substation is expected to be commissioned soon. When completed, the substation is expected to serve industrialists that are setting up shop in the area.

"We are seriously looking into the issue of power quality. Having many industrialists close to each other will make it easier for us to respond to their needs and manage supply adequately," Rwabogo said.

The manufacturers said they were optimistic that the interventions the distributor is making such as establishment of the Nyakesi substation in Tororo Municipality would make a huge difference.

Industrial consumers, according to Umeme, consume about 70% of the power that is generated in the country, making the giant utility focus on them, especially as it readies itself to boost the uptake of more generation coming from Karuma and Isimba hydro power projects in the coming years.

As new factories rush to open shop in Tororo, Umeme is making the requisite preparations in investments in anticipation of the projected increase in demand. The National Cement Simba and Hima Cement have already started production.

Both cement factories have a projected power demand of 20 megawatts with respective demand of 12 megawatts and 8 megawatts. The already existing Tororo Cement Industries has also expanded and increased its production capacity.

As more entrepreneurs rush to open businesses in Tororo, the demand for power is expected to increase, as both domestic consumers and industries will be relying on the same source of power. This prompted Umeme to invest up to $3.88m (about sh14b) into setting up a new substation at Nyakesi in order to boost electricity supply for

the Tororo Industrial Park. Civil works at the project that was contracted by Global Network Ltd are nearing completion. The substation is expected to be commissioned soon. The new substation, which, according to Job Watti, the Umeme project manager, will supply 40 megawatts, is meant to boost industrialisation in the area through reliable power supply.

He said the existing supply from the Tororo Substation was unable to meet the skyrocketing demand and the Nyakesi substation will effectively bridge that gap. "We have prepared for the current demand and have room to supply more. As the industrial park grows, if this is insufficient, we will get more transformers. But right now, the industries can get started.

The plant will have two lines to increase reliability. When one line is off, the other will be on," Watti said. Nyakesi will also have a line to Tororo Cement Industries. Brij Gagrani, the Tororo Industries chief executive, said they would need more power supply, with their new plant. "The expansion will increase our production to three millions tonnes per annum from 1.8 million, with more than 90% consumed locally," Gagrani said.

For the new plant, Umeme constructed another dedicated line to the famous concrete pole line that runs over a 6.8km. "Concrete poles do not rot and cannot be vandalised. They are more reliable," Watti said. Allan Kugonza, the Umeme area engineer, said everything was being done to ensure that industries in the Tororo industrial area have constant power supply.