Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, the Chinese firm undertaking the construction of the 600MV Karuma power dam, has revealed that the project is 95 percent complete. The project which commenced in 2013 is due for commissioning in December 2019, a development that should give Ugandans more electricity for domestic use and production.
The project has passed through great challenges before arriving to this completion stage. The constructing company had to slow down the work after having noticed in 2016 the appearance of cracks on the dam, which the company explained was caused by climatic conditions of the area.
However, the issue was resolved and construction work progressed as was planned. Upon completion, the Karuma hydroelectric power plant will be the largest in the African country, with a production capacity of 600 MW.
Karuma power dam is being financed by both the government of Uganda and Exim Bank of China. The government of Uganda is contributing 15 percent while China is financing the other 85 percent component.
The dam, which is built at Karuma Falls, on the Victoria Nile will also be the first underground power plant in East Africa. Turbine capacity Alstom, a company based in Saint-Ouen, in northern France supplied the six turbines that equip the Karuma hydroelectric power plant.
Each of the turbines has a generating capacity of 100 MW. The electricity produced by the plant will be evacuated from the Lira substation, which is being rehabilitated to support the 600 MW capacity. The kilowatt-hour (kWh) distributed in this way is expected to cost the Ugandan consumer US $0.049 during the first 10 years of the plant’s life.
