According to Uganda’s energy minister, Eskom, a South African power company, returned two hydropower projects to the Ugandan government on Tuesday after the latter decided not to renew its license.
Eskom had been operating the two reactors at the River Nile’s source in Jinja, roughly 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of Kampala, under a 20-year concession agreement signed in 2002.
The aggregate installed generating capacity of the two facilities is 380 megawatts.
Last year the government said it would not renew Eskom’s license when it expired this month and would instead run the plants as part of plans to reduce power costs to consumers.
Part of those plans, according to the government, was to reduce private capital in the sector.
“We also strongly believe that Eskom has built adequate local capacity that will be able to continue the proper operations and maintenance of the complex,” Energy Minister Ruth Ssentamu Nankabirwa said while taking over the plants from Eskom.
In a speech during Eskom’s transfer, Nankabirwa said state-run Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd. (UEGCL) will now operate the plants.
“She stated that the government was carrying out an audit to ascertain whether it owed any compensation to Eskom for investments that were not recouped. The Government of Uganda is prepared to meet any outstanding obligations resulting from this audit. Uganda currently has an installed power capacity of around 1,400 MW, which is expected to increase to 2,000 MW once the Chinese-built Karuma plant on the River Nile is commissioned later this year.”
