Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned the Isimba hydropower station, which is adding 183MW of electricity to the national grid.
Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL) has reassured the country that the Isimba plant will generate the cheapest electricity in East Africa, reports The Independent.
The dam is expected to reduce the cost of power from the current $8 cents per kWh, to $5 cents per kWh making it the cheapest in the region.
“The electricity costs; you don’t have to worry about that because we expect it to go down after completion of the many dams we are constructing,” Museveni said while commissioning the new Simba cement factory in Tororo District.
Like Piyush Goyal said, ‘Electricity can transform people’s lives, not just economically but also socially.’
— UEGCL (@UegclOfficial) March 20, 2019
Aerial view of #IsimbaHPP as of today morning ahead of #IsimbaCommissioning. tomorrow by @KagutaMuseveni, the mood is just electrifying. pic.twitter.com/1UwucQHDsG
The dam is complete with a 132kV, 42km double circuit transmission line to transmit the generated power to the Bujagali Power station, hence making it ready for distribution.
The government is pinning its growth on the new dam and the 600MW at Karuma to boost the country’s economic growth agenda.
“This economy hinges on electricity. Without it, we cannot have economic development,” said Harrison Mutikanga, the chief executive officer of UEGCL.
Now, with the commissioning of Karuma later this year, we’ll add extra 783MW to the grid, & lower the cost of power to atleast $5cents for manufacturers. In the longterm, it is a healthy industrial sector that will create sustainable jobs for our young people #IsimbaCommissioning
— Molly Nawe Kamukama (@mollykamukama) March 21, 2019
