UETCL, UEDCL promise fewer outages after $83m upgrade

What the report says

The Observer reports that Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) say planned power outages around the Kampala Metropolitan Area are linked to major grid works intended to improve reliability. In a joint statement issued on July 23, the companies said the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Transmission System Improvement Project is 90.57% complete, and officials asked customers to tolerate temporary shutdowns while engineers connect and upgrade equipment.

According to the report, UETCL chief executive Richard Matsiko and UEDCL managing director Joselyn Rwabwogo inspected the works as the utilities responded to public frustration over interruptions affecting homes, businesses and hospitals. The upgrade targets the high-voltage transmission system that brings power into Kampala and surrounding areas before it is distributed locally. The companies said demand in the metropolitan area is rising by about 15% annually, adding pressure to an ageing and heavily loaded network.

The works include the completed Maya substation in Buloba, a new substation at Mukono, upgrades at Kawaala, Mutundwe and Bujagali, improvements to existing 132kV lines, new transmission lines, and a mobile substation at Namungoona. The Observer reported that UEDCL also expects the strengthened network to support plans to connect up to 300,000 new customers each year, though this would also depend on distribution expansion and customer affordability.

The project is financed through a Japan International Cooperation Agency concessional loan of 13 billion Japanese yen, valued in the statement at about $83.3 million. UETCL is implementing it, with China Machinery Engineering Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation as contractors. No final completion date or detailed outage timetable was provided.