Members of Parliament on Natural Resources Committee has recommended an extra Shs334 billion for electricity transmission, generation and distribution projects to utilize excess power.
The committee members want government to allocate an additional Shs60 billion to the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Shs96.1 billion to Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd-UEGCL and Shs178 billion to Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL) to boost electricity use among Ugandans.
The above projects are among the underfunded or unfunded priorities in the Energy Resources Directorate under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in the National Budget Framework Paper for financial year 2019/2020.
There have been concerns that Isimba and Karuma hydropower dams will add 1,000 Megawatts to the national grid by the end of this year and yet there are challenges of transmitting and distributing it to users.
Also noted are the delays in compensating Project Affected Persons (PAP), which the committee says has hampered implementation of key transmission projects including Sukuru sub-station in Tororo, Mutundwe-Entebbe, Mirama-Kabale, Industrial parks, Karuma interconnection and Masaka-Mbarara.
Dr Keefa Kiwanuka, the Natural Resources Committee Chairperson, says the installed generation capacity of 1,100 Megawatts cannot be fully utilized due to poor transmission and distribution lines.
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The committee is worried that adding Isimba and Karuma dams onto the national grid may not yield the desired results unless the transmission and distribution systems are expanded and upgraded.
Uganda has an excess power generation of about 200 Megawatts. Only a maximum of 750 MW can be used during peak hours between 6pm -12pm minus power from the two thermal plants that have an installed capacity of 100MW.
There are currently 36 power generating plants in the country, which include large and mini hydro dams, heat and energy, solar and thermal plants.