MPs visit Achwa Hydroelectric Power Station over deemed energy

The Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Natural Resources is today expected to visit Achwa hydropower plant in Pader district in Northern Uganda over deemed energy.

Deemed energy is one of the thorny issues that have emerged in the liberalised electricity supply industry in the post-Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) era with the government paying billions of shillings on electricity produced but is not consumed.

The issue has become more problematic since 2012 when Bujagali power plant was commissioned.

According to the latest Auditor General's report, the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) paid up to sh87.7b to 13 private generators during the financial year ended June 2021.

UETCL is the government agency mandated to purchase all the electricity generated in the country before selling it to distribution companies who in the end sell it to final consumers.

Two Achwa plants with a combined installed capacity of 83 megawatts are the biggest beneficiaries of these funds for they were developed to completion without a corresponding transmission line to evacuate the power generated.

The government through Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) developed an emergency low voltage distribution line to evacuate some of the power from the plants.

In March, the development of a transmission line and associated substations to evacuate the plants commenced. It's expected to be completed in June next year.