- Voith Hydro commissions 15.57MW hydro plant in East Africa.
- The plant will supply power to the Ugandan and Tanzanian grids.
- The plant cost $87 million, financed by loans that KPC will repay over 16 years.
Voith Hydro has commissioned the Kikagati hydroelectric power plant, a cross-border dam in East Africa. The plant is located Tanzania- Uganda border on the Kagera River and comprises three turbines of 5.19MW, bringing the cumulative capacity to 15.57MW. The 8.5 m high and 300 m long dam has a reservoir that covers an area of 4 km2. The [power generated by the plant is evacuated via a 33 kV line.
The plant is owned by the Kikagati Power Company (KPC), an SPV set up for the project. KPC will sell the power generated to the state-owned Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) and the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO). The plant will generate 115 GWh manually.
The project cost a total of $87 million, financed through loans taken by KPC from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). In addition, the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), a $205 million fund managed by Berkeley Energy, provided financial support. KPC will repay the loans over 16 years.