Comprehensive floating island solution in offing

ENERGY|ENVIRONMENT

At 9:17pm on Sunday, electricity distribution company Umeme warned consumers of possible disruption in supply due to a floating island that was approaching Kiira and Nalubaale power plants in Jinja. 

"We have received information about a floating island which is likely to affect our services. We shall however do our best to maintain uninterrupted service as much as duly possible. Keep your devices charged," Umeme tweeted on Sunday night. 

Then, a floating island estimated to be about half-an-acre was approaching the power plants causing fear of a previous incident that resulted into a brief national black out. 

In April, the country was plunged into brief national blackout after a ‘huge water weed island' stormed the Nalubaale hydropower station in Jinja causing clogging of intake gates for Nalubaale, Kiira & Bujagali power plants resulting into their tripping. 

Mary Goretti Kitutu, the energy and mineral development minister attributed the April floating island to human activities and increase in water levels. 

She also advocated for reserving at least a 200-meter reserve for water bodies like Lake Victoria. 

Sunday's floating island has, according to Eskom, the operators of the two power plants, been blown towards the Jinja pier. 

"It's been blown back towards Jinja Pier. The team from Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries are working towards removing it," Emmanuel Njuki, Eskom's head of communications said Sunday.

Emphasising , need to put in place a comprehensive long-term solution that would be managed by different stakeholders, Njuki explained that the easiest way of managing smaller floating islands would be flushing them through the spill ways at Kiira dam and alerting other dams downstream like Bujagali and Isimba to do the same. 

"A comprehensive floating island management solution, however, would be corroborative and it would involve all stakeholders, UEGCL, ministries of energy and agriculture. That's why then and now solutions are being sought together," he said. 

He also said that comprehensive plan is still ‘work in progress' and declined to share details of the plan. 

When contacted, Robert Kasande, the permanent secretary at the energy ministry said the comprehensive plan is already in place and that it is implemented by other stakeholders like ministry of agriculture that have the machines that can retrieve the suds in case they appear. 

Ministry of agriculture permanent secretary, Pius Wakabi said in May that his team was leading multi-sectoral efforts to control the floating islands detected on Lakes Victoria, Albert and Kyoga. 

Wakabis said his ministry's mandate was to control aquatic weeds in collaboration with other ministries like water & environment, defence and National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).