Barely three days to the end of Umeme’s 20-year concession, Uganda has suffered massive power outages.

The increase in power outages and load shedding, has rattled Ugandans, prompting them to demand an explanation from the government.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) has acknowledged the current power supply constraints affecting parts of Uganda and pledged commitment to ensure that the country’s energy needs are met efficiently and sustainably. 

The Ministry said in a statement that as the national electricity demand grew, certain substations became overloaded which necessitated urgent upgrades to some parts of the electricity transmission and distribution network. 

The Energy Ministry highlighted various factors that have caused power outages in different parts of the country. 

“Critical Equipment Failures: Some outages were caused by failures in critical equipment in key installations, which interrupted service to affected areas.”

The Ministry also said that healthy sections of the power network were unable to handle the affected load due to insufficient capacity in certain parts of the system.

It further said that there have been instances of vandalism and theft in areas especially along the Kawanda to Masaka Transmission Line which significantly disrupted power supply in these regions.

“Bush Fires: Bush burning, particularly in the Kiryandongo/Karuma area, has caused additional damage to transmission lines, further compounding service interruptions.”

These disruptions coincide with Uganda’s transition from a 20-year electricity distribution concession previously managed by Umeme Ltd to the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (UEDCL), which will assume network management on April 1.

While the Energy Ministry attributes the disruptions to overloaded substations, equipment failures, vandalism, and bush fires, the situation raises concerns about the readiness of UEDCL to takeover and manage the network.

The Ministry said that it is collaborating with its sister Agencies in the sector to actively address these challenges.

“Urgent maintenance and upgrade activities are ongoing to enhance the reliability of the power supply and resolve the capacity limitations in various parts of the country,” the Ministry said.

It added that necessary funds to address the critical issues have been prioritized to ensure that the interventions are carried out efficiently, guaranteeing continuity of service and minimizing disruptions.

By ChimpReports