18 October 2012 – The US$900 million 250 MW Bujagali run of river hydroelectric scheme in Uganda was officially inaugurated on October 10th by the country’s president Yoweri Museveni. The five unit power station on the Nile River will be operated by Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL). BEL was established by the project sponsors and the government of Uganda for developing and subsequently operating the plant for 30 years, after which it will be transferred to the government of Uganda for a nominal US$1.0.
Bujagali took five years to complete and it will save the government aboutUS$9.5 million a month in subsidies on 100 MW of expensive rental generation that has now been replaced. Since it became operational in June 2012, the 250MW power station has almost doubled Uganda’s electricity supply capacity, currently meeting about 49% of the country’s energy requirements.
Bujagali Energy chairman, Nizar Juma, says, “The project serves as an example of a highly successful public private partnership model, ideal for replication throughout the region.” The project was jointly developed by a consortium led by Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), the infrastructure and industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.
Prior to its development, frequent load-shedding accounted for between a 1.0% and 1.5% loss to Uganda’s GDP.
