Vandalism could cripple power supply

By Samuel Sanya

Vandalism of electricity pylons is threatening to further cripple electricity supply across the country, a top official warned.

Eriasi Kiyemba, the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) boss, observed that the theft of angle bars had weakened transmission towers, which could collapse under strong winds.

“The rate of theft has increased. We are worried that a power blackout may occur under strong winds. If this happens, the loss will be immeasurable,” he said.

UETCL buys electricity in bulk from independent power producers and sells it to UMEME, the distributor.

Kiyemba said the Owen Falls-Kampala and the new Bujagali-Kawanda transmission lines were the most hit.

About 466 pieces of angle bars were stolen from 26 pylons from October to date. This has, as result, weakened up to 660km of high-voltage electricity lines around the country.

James Mwine, the UETCL principal maintenance engineer, explained that vandalism on the 132kV Owen Falls-Lugogo transmission line could cause power blackouts in Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso and parts of western Uganda.

“In case a tower falls, we will have electricity blackouts lasting about a month.

“We need the Government to deploy security personnel to safeguard the towers since they are a national asset,” he said.
Mwine pointed out that the new Bujagali-Kawanda power line was already being vandalised.

This, he added, was likely to delay the evacuation of the 50MW from the Bujagali hydro-power project.

He added that in the event that a tower collapses, at least two adjacent towers were also likely to fall. This would cost the country about sh150m per pylon, with construction taking 30 days.  

“Most vandalised towers are in rural areas where the public cannot easily see the thieves. Buikwe, Mukono and parts of Wakiso have the highest cases. We are working with the Police in these areas arrest the culprits,” he said.

It takes at least one day to repair each vandalised tower, with the thefts happening at a greater frequency.

William Kiryahika, the UETCL deputy managing director, noted that encroachment on areas surrounding the electricity towers and theft of transmission oil from upcountry sub-stations was adding on the risk of fire-breakouts.

Valentine Katabira, the UETCL manager for operations and maintenance, said the parastatal could lose about sh100m per hour, if a power tower collapsed.

Meanwhile, Kiyemba has revealed that power generation was likely to increase by December 15, after tests at the Bujagali hydro-power station are completed.

“The dry tests that include the mechanical rotation of turbines have been successfully completed and wet tests will start this week.

“I am optimistic we will receive additional power from Bujagali in the third week of December,” he said.

The dam is scheduled to be opened in phases, with 50MW to be released in the first phase, and a total 250MW to be commissioned in April 2012.