Government is planning to focus on more minidams that could supply power to areas not reached by the main national grid.
Julius Wamala, the acting assistant commissioner for generation in the ministry of energy, said: “We have been working on the bio-fuels policy for some time, and we are happy that cabinet has accepted the policy. It will allow the ethanol to be mixed with fossil fuels to produce more electricity.”
This was at a recent workshop that brought together investors in the energy sector organized by ministry of energy and the German government.
“The ethanol-diesel mixture aims to provide reliable, low cost power to minidams that supply to areas which are not connected to the national grid,” he said.
Benon Bena, manager of off-grid renewable energy development at Rural Electrification Agency (REA), said that in 2013 government published a rural electrification strategy and plan (RESP) for period 2013-2022 with the objective of achieving accelerated pace of electricity access.
“Our target is to achieve a rural electrification access of 26 per cent by 2022, which translates to 1.4m new connections on and off-grid,” he said.
Bena explained that REA will support investors in minidams through identification of off-grid sites. He said they would provide capital subsidies to cover the cost of the local distribution grid and connections in addition to supporting companies with community engagement and social intermediation.
PLANNED INVESTMENTS
Bena said that a firm, Absolute Energy Ltd, has obtained a letter of intent from government to set up a 230kW PV mini-grid pilot project on Kitobo island on Lake Victoria. It will supply power to more than 600 households and businesses.
“REA will provide the distribution grid and a capital subsidy to buy down the end-user tariff. Once the pilot is successful, the company will roll out to other 10 islands,” he said.
He said the EU has identified and undertaken pre-feasibility studies of 15 sites in northern Uganda. The sites will be tendered to a private sector developer who will receive a capital subsidy to buy down the end-user.
“There is need to streamline and shorten the licensing regimes and also sometimes remove or reduce license fee for very small projects,” he said.
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