lack of transparency in Uganda's power sector remains the biggest reason for high power tariff

The New Vision newspaper in Uganda recently ran a story that Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UEGCL) vows to bring down electricity tariffs with a 50% increase in the quantity of electricity produced over the next three years. The story indicated that Government has adopted a new energy policy direction, which gives UEGCL the mandate of implementing agency for the construction of Government flagship projects of Karuma (600MW) that will be 85% complete by 2017, Isimba (183) MW that will be completed by the end of 2017 and construction of Ayago(600mw) slated to start by the end of 2016. UEGCL’S commitment to bring down power tariffs that have haunted the electricity sector for a long time is commendable.

The reality is that power remains generally pricey for many in Uganda considering that more than half of the populations live below the poverty line. Yet, increasing power tariffs has become a common trend year after year. Even recently, power tariffs were increased where domestic consumers now have to pay shs.531 for each unit of power from the previous Shs.518.7. However, UEGCL should also be mindful that increase in the power production alone will not bring down the tariffs. Remember this was the same promise made during the building of the construction of the 250mw Bujagali  hydropower dam but on completion the tariffs increased even after decommissioning of the thermal power that used to use millions of litres of expensive fuel.

Government must first tackle the issue of corruption, mismanagement and lack of transparency in the power sector that remains the biggest reason for high power tariffs. The sector has been marred with lack of transparency in deal making, profiteering and shady contracts. Construction of dams in Uganda has had a history of inflated costs, lack of commitment and unnecessary delays. For instance, the unit cost of the Bujagali hydro-power dam is still the most expensive in the whole world of power projects.

 To date, the Karuma dam is still struggling to take off and already the price is also the highest in the world.  Secrecy continues to surround the terms in the Karuma contract moreover endless promises have been made on when this project will finally take off. Electricity Regulatory Authority(ERA) has also proved an incompetent regulator. While S.16 of the Electricity Act guarantees the independence of ERA, the same law subjects it to government policing.

These existing weaknesses in regulation are the reason why under its watch, power tariffs have more than doubled in the past few years. In 2006, for instance, the tariffs increased by 35% in June and 41% in November and in 2012, the power tariffs increased by 69% for domestic consumers and 56% for industrial users. ERA has failed to find long term solutions to the high tariffs and the darkness that is engulfing the country. The problem of high power tariffs in the power sector is deep rooted and attempts to solve it and deliver affordable power to Ugandans without tackling some of the above mentioned issues will only be futile.

 dianakarakire@gmail.com

Uganda’s Oil development Could Aggravate Climate change

Fossil fuels are primarily coal, oil and natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. They are non renewable sources of energy. Despite the current global slump in oil prices, government has gone ahead to invest in the production of its crude oil reserves with plans of implementation of projects including a 30,000 barrels per day refinery and a$6bn pipeline to enable the country produce  oil by 2018.Over the past couple of days, Ugandan officials have been huddling through marathon meeting between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as the neighbors scramble to be the main gate way of the country’s oil reserves.

However, as government seeks to turn today’s oil reserves into tomorrow’s fuels, it should be mindful of the fact that oil development could further lock us onto the path to irreversible climate changes and be prepared to deal with the consequences.  One of the most significant gases emitted when fossil fuels are burned, is carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere and is responsible for global warming. Moreover, oil development projects continue to rob locals of their land and livelihoods. In Hoima district, 29 square kilometres (11 sq mi) piece of land was acquired by government to pave way for the oil refinery.Currently, government is in the process of acquiring 7 km² of land in Kiziramfumbi and Buhimba Sub County in Hoima district for the construction of an oil pipeline. Oil development projects continue to eat up land that locals depend on for their livelihoods

 The international agreement reached at the Paris climate conference COP21 last year indicates that governments everywhere have pledged to step up their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, by eliminating use of fossil fuels to address the current climate crisis and keep global warming at bay. The recurrent heavy rainfall, floods such as kasese floods,hailstorms ,landslides and droughts are all manifestations of the changing climate in Uganda.

Government has made it clear that climate change and variability is a major threat to sustainable progress in the country. According to the country’s climate action plan, also known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Uganda commits to a 22 percent emission cuts on a business as usual basis by 2030 in a bid to mitigate and adapt to climate change and transit to a low-carbon climate-resilient economy.

 Government hopes to do this by increasing renewable energy deployment and achieve a total of at least 3,200 Mega Watts renewable electricity generation capacity by 2030.Government is yet to take meaningful action in fulfillment of these commitments.While we can only hope that  our leaders keep to their word . Let’s all pledge today to protect the planet for future generations by taking action individually to reduce the human causes of climate changes.

dianakarakire@gmail.com

Will Uganda's dams deliver on the expected benefits? The need to explore alternative energy

Four years after commissioning Bujagali hydro power plant, the largest power station in the country, government is racing against time to develop Karuma and Isimba hydro power plants in a move to meet the country’s growing power demand, estimated at 50 mw per year and to end years of chronic power shortages.

However, the Daily monitor newspaper recently reported that the Energy minister Irene Muloni had confirmed shoddy works in the construction of the Karuma, and Isimba dams both slated to be commissioned in December 2018 and in August 2018 respectively. The matter came to light after UEGCL – the state agency that is mandated with running completed power plants raised the red flag, alerting the President that the quality of works at the two dams had been compromised under suspected connivance between Energy Infratech from India, the lead supervisor and the contractor. Chinese firm Sinohydro is the contractor for the 600MW Karuma dam while China Water is constructing the 183MW dam at Isimba.

Let’s not forget that  these are the same companies that government hand picked and awarded the contract to build these dams instead of  taking them through a competitive bidding process with other companies. Already, concerns are mounting about the costs of these projects. While Karuma was initially expected to cost around $1.4 billion, this is now likely to shoot up to $2 billion, according to experts.

It is now questionable whether these dams will be able to deliver the expected benefits to Ugandans considering the above indicators. Construction of dams in Uganda has had a history of inflated costs, lack of commitment and unnecessary delays.Built on the promises of remaking people from peasants to modern citizens, these dams could fail to deliver reliable and affordable power even to the local communities near the projects, and rather become mere set-pieces of nation building.

Clearly, lack of transparency in deal making,profiteering and shady contracts are undermining the functionality of the energy sector and this continues to be the reason for inaccessible and expensive power that robs many Ugandans the dignity and opportunity that comes with access to modern energy. This is coupled with the fact that government continues to prioritize dams with less investment in other clean energy sources capable of transitioning the country towards a low-carbon climate-resilient economy.In most cases, the political currency earned by building dams is very high surpassing their actual usefulness. Other energy sources such as solar, wind are much more difficult to convert into political mileage and also undermine the traditional energy model considering that the sun and wind are intangible.

In the East African region ,Uganda still lags in third position in power generation efficiency at 61% with Kenya being the leader at 78% followed by Tanzania at 65% . Uganda has the potential to leapfrog over good old Hydro and become a regional leader in clean energy development. With the fall in the price of solar panels and storage batteries, there’s also an opportunity for many households in rural areas that mostly rely on traditional biomass usage a contributor  to  dangerous carbon emissions  .

Uganda cannot develop to create jobs, improve health services and compete with the rest of the world without sufficient and affordable electricity. Rural dwellers should not sit back to wait for electricity services from the government but venture into use of solar and wind energy sources for lighting their homes and businesses .

As citizens we must hold the energy sector leaders accountable because when these dams finally start producing unreliable and expensive power like history has shown we are the losers.

 dianakarakire@gmail.com