now loading...
Wealth Asia Connect Middle East Treasury & Capital Markets Europe ESG Forum TechTalk
Asia Connect
Sinohydro to finish Karuma hydro plant in Uganda by end 2018
New power sources needed to attract foreign investment
Michael Marray 20 Jun 2018

Construction work on the Karuma hydropower plant in Uganda is now more than 75% completed, and Sinohydro Corp is on course to complete the project by end 2018. It is on the river Kyoga Nile, near the highway Masindi-Gulu and the city of Karuma. According to Sinohydro, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project comprises a 20 metre high, 311 metre long gravity dam, associated works and six 100MW surface power houses. It will be the largest dam in East Africa, and take five years to build. Sinohydro lists the contract value at US$1.65 billion; China Exim Bank is the financier. The owner will be Uganda's Ministry of Energy & Mines. The first 200MW of power is expected to come online in December 2018, with the rest in 2019. The turbines are made in France by Alstom.

According to Xinhua, Uganda's finance minister says that the government will add 783MW to the national grid over the next two years, comprising 600MW from the Karuma Power Plant and 183MW from the Isimba hydro project. Isimba is also being built by a Chinese contractor, China International Water & Electric Corp (a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corp), with financing from China Exim Bank.

Uganda's power generation and installed capacity is estimated at 930MW, per government figures. Inadequate and costly power is hindering Uganda's economic development, and additional power sources are needed to attract foreign investment in new industries. Uganda has long-term plans for nuclear power, and has turned to both China and Russia for assistance. Wang Shoujun, chairman of China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), met with Irene Muloni, minister of energy and mineral development, in Beijing on 11 May 2018.

The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding on the peaceful use of atomic energy and will give priority to the application of nuclear technology in medicine, agriculture and industry. Uganda has uranium deposits. In 2017 it signed an agreement with Russian State Atomic Energy Corp (Rosatom) to work together on nuclear power projects.

Conversation
Jenn Hui Tan
Jenn Hui Tan
global head of stewardship and sustainable investing
Fidelity International
- JOINED THE EVENT -
4th ESG Summit Webinar Series - Part 1
Paving the way toward net zero
View Highlights
Conversation
Christine Zhang
Christine Zhang
executive director & general manager, overseas business department
China Chengxin International Credit Rating
- JOINED THE EVENT -
17th Asia Bond Markets Summit - China Edition
Rebalancing in the transition journey
View Highlights