Uganda - Wind power considered for rural areas amid acute power crisis

Following a persistent power crisis due to declining water levels of Lake Victoria, the Ugandan government has given a go ahead to a wind power scheme. Bergey Wind Power, a U.S. based firm and partner of Winafrique Kenya and Win afriqueUganda, will generate power using wind turbines. The power will be mainly supplied to rural areas that are not covered by the national grid. The President of Bergey Wind Power, Michael Bergey was quoted by Sunday Monitor as saying the installation of the wind turbines would commence within six months. The team also planned to light up Kampala-Entebbe road within two weeks to show that wind power can be a solution to the prevailing power crisis.

The cost of installation per unit ranges between 8000 to 10,000 U.S. dollars. Uganda has resorted to thermal power after being plunged into the worst ever power crisis due to sharp decline of output in two hydro power plants in Jinja, 80 km east of Kampala, and rapid growing power demand from manufacturing sector. The thermal option has consequently resulted in a 37 percent rise in power tariffs and will lead to another 50 percent surge as of November this year, which could further hinder the country's economic growth after it was slowed down by a 24 hour load shedding in the last one and a half years.