4 - Dam-Building & Electricity in Contemporary Uganda

Summary

In 2001, the Uganda Electricity Board, the public monopoly, was unbundled, creating the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (UEDCL), the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL), and the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UEGCL). As UEGCL's main functions were the operation and maintenance of the two hydroelectric generating stations in Uganda, the company was based in Jinja – the location of Uganda's first large hydroelectric dam, Owen Falls dam (now Nalubaale), and an extension to the Owen Falls dam, called the Kiira Power Station. In 2003, under the auspices of the country's privatization strategy, Eskom Uganda Ltd, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Eskom Enterprises, was awarded a twenty-year generation concession to operate the two hydroelectric facilities. Up until 2003, AES Nile Power (AESNP) – the company originally scheduled to build the Bujagali dam – also had a main office on the perimeter of the Jinja town centre. At this location, AESNP coordinated onsite activities for the proposed Bujagali dam, which was to be constructed about 10 km northwest from the town, and about 8.5 km from the Nalubaale dam complex.

I visited the AESNP offices in May 2003 to meet with the company's ‘Community Interaction Officer’. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about the responsibilities and activities of the team in the lead-up to the construction of the dam – then still on track to be built in the coming year. On the morning of my meeting I made my way to Kampala's Old Taxi Park to take the Kampala-Jinja commuter bus. As the bus pulled out and made its way eastward on Jinja Road, I began speaking with the man sitting cozily beside me. Our conversation started with simple pleasantries. My companion explained that he permanently lived in Jinja but often commuted to Kampala for work. He then asked why I was in Uganda. After explaining that I was studying the reforms to the electricity sector, our conversation became livelier. My companion wanted my opinion on two issues: why does Uganda have load-shedding when it has so much potential for electricity generation; and, given the existing and available potential supply of hydro-generated electricity, why is the price of electricity so high?