- This results from Achwa and Karuma Hydroelectric power stations commencing operations this year.
- The Ugandan government has been paying about US $24 million annually for deemed power since 2019.
The Ugandan government has announced it will discontinue payments for deemed power as the Achwa and Karuma Hydroelectric power stations are expected to commence operations this year. Deemed energy, often unused electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) due to non-existent or weak grid infrastructure, has been a financial burden. Dr Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, disclosed that the government had been paying about US $24 million annually for deemed power since 2019, totalling approximately 90.814 billion Shillings.
However, this financial strain has been alleviated with the completion of distribution networks from Karuma and Aswa Hydroelectric power stations (producing 600MW and 83MW, respectively). Dr Nankabirwa emphasised that the power line from Karuma would channel about 200MW to West Nile, meeting a demand of 11MW in the Acholi sub-region and a projected 21MW. This would aid social-economic transformation, even reaching South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In December 2023, Parliament approved a 318 billion Shillings supplementary budget for the Electricity Access Scale-Up Project (EASP). Of this amount, 128 billion will connect 200,000 households, and 58 billion will cover shortfalls in contractual obligations for deemed energy, specifically for the Lira-Agago transmission line to Achwa-Agago Dam. The Ministry of Energy aims to make 300,000 connections in FY 2022/2023 under the Electricity Connection Policy (ECP), aligning with Uganda’s Vision 2040 goal of universal electricity access. The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) statistics indicate that 1.7 million households are connected to the national grid, short of the eight million target.