The Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, has received funding of $638 million from the World Bank.
Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, said while addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre on January 5, 2023, that the purpose of the funding is to implement the Energy Access Scale-up Project (EASP).
“The government of Uganda, with support from the World Bank, has acquired funding of US$638 million to implement the Energy Access Scale-up Project (EASP). Under EASP, over 1,360,000 households, industrial parks, SMEs, refugees, and host communities will get connected,” Nankabirwa said.
According to Nankabirwa, the project is expected to kick off in January 2024 and will be implemented alongside other existing initiatives such as the hybrid connection policy and the rebate policy.
During the address, Nankabirwa also said that the people of West Nile and Northern Uganda will no longer have issues of unreliability, inadequacy, and intermittent power supply because works on the Nebbi and Arua substations are currently at 98% completion.
Nankabirwa added that Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) completed the Gulu, Achwa-Agago, Kole, and Olwiyo substations and also expanded the Lira Substation and the much-awaited Agago-Gulu Kole 132kV transmission line.
West Nile and Northern Uganda are expected to develop due to the full commissioning of the 600 MW Karuma Hydropower Plant, which currently provides up to 400 MW to the grid.