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Chinese and Ugandan engineers are putting the finishing touches on the Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station, Uganda’s flagship project that promotes clean energy and limits its carbon footprint on the Nile River.
Kenneth Kiyingi, a civil engineer for the 600MW power plant in the northern part of the country, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the facility epitomizes clean power generation and promotes sustainable development.
Kiyingi said that taking a green approach was an important element from the design to the actual construction of the $ 1.7 billion power plant.
The project was built in an environmentally sensitive area, Murchison Falls National Park, which has rich flora and fauna.
Most of the power plant was built underground to limit footprints on the surface. Kiyingi said the structures on the surface have also been designed and built to conserve the environment.
Kiyingi said that generating and using renewable energy is one of the solutions to worsening the effects of climate change. He said that while the initial cost of establishing renewable energy is high, in the long run, the cost to the environment is much lower.
Mary Goretti Kitutu, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, told Xinhua that the country is generating and using clean energy as a key area of sustainable development.
Electricity generation in Uganda showed a sharp decline in 2006 when water levels in Lake Victoria fell.
The intermittent supply pushed the country to depend on the thermal energy generated, which increased the country’s carbon footprint.
Kitutu said the situation has changed since then and the country is pushing for greater absorption of renewable energy.
Uganda is highly dependent on hydroelectric power generation and its potential is about 5,300MW, Kitutu said, adding that the country will soon have a total generation capacity of 2,000MW once the China-built Karuma hydroelectric plant enters into operation. functioning.
The Karuma plant would make power more affordable by lowering rates by 17.5 percent, according to the government.
Simon D’Ujanga, Minister of State for Energy, told reporters on November 30 that the use of the power plant is expected to reduce the rate to 5.34 cents per kWh from 6.47 cents. per current kWh.
Thanks to the 183MW Isimba hydroelectric plant built in China last year, Uganda has already reached the target of 5 cents per unit of electricity during off-peak hours for oversized consumers such as industries.
In the medium and long term, according to D’Ujanga, the Ugandan government will develop large and small hydroelectric projects and will seek nuclear, solar and wind power plants.
Uganda has faced disasters such as massive landslides that killed hundreds of people as a result of cutting down trees in mountain ranges to supply charcoal to urban markets, according to the minister.
“We know that once we embrace renewable energy, we would have reduced that momentum that makes people cut down trees,” said Minister Kitutu.
Official figures show that biomass as materials for firewood, charcoal and crop residues have remained the main source of energy for cooking in Uganda.
To mitigate the effect of accelerated deforestation, the government is promoting the use of alternative, clean and modern cooking solutions, such as electric pressure cooking and liquefied petroleum gas.
Source: GNA
