KIS to connect Kalangala using the solar generation system

Jan 08, 2015

The construction of a solar-hybrid power generation station in Kalangala district has been completed by the Kalangala Infrastructure Services (KIS).

The construction of a solar-hybrid power generation station in Kalangala district has been completed by the Kalangala Infrastructure Services (KIS).

KIS managing director, John Oporo, said the station is expected to supply stable electricity to the people of Kalangala district. The system with an installed generation capacity of 1.6 megawatts uses both solar and thermal electricity at different intervals of the day and night.

“We have conducted all the necessary tests about the system and we are confident that residents of Kalangala district will have constant electricity supply,” said Oporo during a tour of the installed facilities in Kalangala district.

Highlighting the project’s targets, Oporo, said, the $50m (about sh128b) investment also includes other infrastructural developments like tarmacking about 66km of the road network, clean water supply and ferry services.

KIS is a multi-sector infrastructure project– a subsidiary of the UK based InfraCo Ltd, which aims to establish a utility company to facilitate development on the island.

It is financed through equity and debt from InfraCo, Nedbank from South Africa, Uganda Development Corporation and Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.

He added that KIS will retain a licence for each of the sectors on the island for up to 20 years, in expectation of a 6% return.

“The Government regulates all the projects, but we carried out feasibility studies to ensure that we break even in nine years’ time,” he explained during the meeting with rural electrification agency and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd officials.

Oporo said they have completed the construction process of transmission and distribution lines covering Bugala Islands. Installation of the solar and thermal components has also been completed and commissioning tests have also been done.

“We have planned to start serious operations in January,” he said without specifying the exact date.

Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (UEDCL) has been running the thermal generators for the last four years, providing electricity to Kalangala town council for 15 hours in two interchangeable shifts (9:00am to 5:00pm and then 6:00pm to 1:00am).
 

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