US $567.7 MILLION ISIMBA HYDROPOWER DAM IN UGANDA COMMISSIONED
US $567.7m Isimba Hydropower Dam in Kayunga District Uganda has been officially commissioned by President Museveni. “The construction and completion of Isimba dam gives confidence to investors that Uganda has adequate and reliable electricity,” said President Museveni.
The 183.2MW power plant is located at the village of Isimba on the Victoria Nile, in Kamuli District, approximately 44 km north of the Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Station.
Construction of the project which was built by China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWE) with Artelia and KKATT being the project consultants began in 2015. It features a five-floor office complex which has control units to regulate functioning of turbine generators, transformers and swtich-yard.
The project extends over approximately 2,867.6 acres of land and comprises a concrete gravity dam, a clay-core rock fill dam, a spillway, a power house, electro-mechanical equipment, switching stations, and auxiliary power transmission works.
The concrete gravity dam comprises a reservoir retaining structure in front of the erection bay. The rock fill dam is to provide storage for emergency gates and stop logs.
The powerhouse features four 45.8MW Kaplan turbines and the switchyard is connected with the powerhouse by four overhead lines. The 183MW at Isimba dam will be transmitted over 42 km to Bujagali dam switchyard to load on national grid.
The electricity generated is set to increase power on the national grid to slightly over 1,000MW. This could prompt tariff reduction for large-scale consumers supplied from the national grid. Energy Minister Permanent Secretary Robert Kasande, noted that power price reduction is not immediate for everybody across the board.
Isimba technical staff have been running tests of gradual loading of the electricity generated from the dam onto the national grid since last December, when the plant was originally planned to be commissioned.
Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UECGL) said it will sell the electricity it generated at about US $5 cents per unit or 1,000 watts, lower than the US $8 cents charged for Bujagali dam power. https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/03/us-567-7-million-isimba-hydropower-dam-in-uganda-commissioned/
