Sep 14 2010
The Bujagali Hydropower Project (HPP), a 250 MW hydro power generating facility built over river Nile close to Jinja, a town in Uganda by Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL) is planning to connect 50 MW of its energy production to the national grid next year.
The project is a joint venture of Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Ltd, and SG Bujagali Holdings Ltd an affiliate company of Sithe Global Power, LLC (USA).
Men at work at the main Bujagali power plant in Jinja
The construction work on the dam commenced in the middle of 2007 and it was projected to be completed within a period of 44 months i.e. by July 2011. The project construction entered into hurdles when the engineers constructing the 30 M high dam encountered weak brittle rocks at the tail section of the dam where they have planned the gated spillway to release excess water or flood water of the dam. This has resulted in redesigning the dam construction and to introduce a major construction linking the gated spillway to protect the dam during floods.
Kenneth Kaheru, Deputy Construction Manager of Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL), said that the proposed 50 MW hydro power production from the dam will augment the electric power supply of the country to 465 MW. As he was unsure of the problems on the eastern part of the river, he was not able to give the accurate date for the commissioning of the dam. He confirmed the plans of the company to divert the river using the constructed gates during January next year to begin construction on the eastern side of the river.
The project sponsors in addition to building schools in Naminya settlement village have also spent around $3m on health, fisheries, education and other skills training programs for the benefit of the local population who got displaced due to the dam’s construction.