Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has disclosed that the East African nation will not renew South African power firm, Eskom’s licences to run two of its hydropower stations if they expire in March 2023.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry, the country plans to bring the electricity sector under the government’s control to reduce electricity costs to consumers.
Instead, the government will create a new entity which will be known as Uganda National Electricity Company Limited (UNECL), a state-run company, to manage the generation, transmission and distribution segments of the electricity sector, the statement by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development revealed.
President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly complained that expensive private capital was responsible for high electricity tariffs in Uganda, which makes it unaffordable for consumers.
“The ministry has already formally notified Eskom of the government’s decision not to renew their concession agreements when they come to their natural end in March 2023,” the ministry said in the statement.
Eskom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eskom runs two hydropower plants at the source of the River Nile in Jinja, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) east of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
The government intends to “minimise expensive private capital” in the electricity sector by bringing it under direct state management and control, the ministry said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
