BOSTON, MA, March 26, 2021 – The United States Energy Association (“USEA”) and the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”), in partnership with London Economics International (“LEI”) and Grid Advisors LLC, recently published an Energy Mix Diversification Strategy for the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (“UEGCL”).
Uganda relies heavily on hydropower generation, a technology susceptible to hydrological fluctuations and climate change, which cause severe load-shedding and blackouts during droughts and floods. Key findings of the report include targets to install additional capacity up to 300 Megawatts (“MW”) by 2030, and between 900 MW to 2,000 MW by 2040. This additional capacity will consist primarily of solar (with storage), wind, and geothermal technologies to align with Uganda’s sustainability strategy and overall economic development objectives.
Elise Voorhis, a Senior Program Coordinator for USEA’s Energy Utility Partnership Program (EUPP), said: “Countries must diversify their energy mix to integrate more renewables and clean technology, not only to mitigate climate change and reduce their vulnerability, but also to increase energy access and security.”
While the strategy was developed for UEGCL and the generation sector, inefficiencies and issues in the transmission, distribution, and regulatory sectors must also be addressed to effectively solve UEGCL’s challenges. USEA and LEI recommend that key energy stakeholders in Uganda standardize and systematize planning efforts, load-forecasting activities, and national targets to establish a consensus to build upon.
LEI Managing Consultant Sayad Moudachirou commented: “The harmonization of sector planning into a single long-term plan with a common set of inputs and assumptions could take the form of a country-wide integrated resource plan (“IRP”) that would reflect key goals and priorities of the sector as a whole. The development of an IRP based on assumptions agreed upon by key stakeholders will enable better consistency across planning activities, reduce inefficiency and will be conducive to orderly transmission and generation expansion in Uganda”
The Energy Mix Diversification Strategy report is available on the USEA website at this link, and physical copies will be published in Uganda.