The cabinet has approved that Uganda will import 60 megawatts of electricity from Kenya to support the national grid following the shutdown of the Isimba dam.
The dam nearly submerged last Monday and has been inoperative for the last six days. The flooding of the powerhouse affected generators and turbines.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, revealed that parts of the country will experience intermittent load shedding for at least three weeks as the government finds solutions.
Similarly, the electricity distributor UMEME said that the shutdown of the Isimba dam means that over one hundred thousand users in Uganda will experience load-shedding every day for an unspecified period.
Uganda has been producing 1254MW and consuming 800MW.
“We are making sure we get more electricity, for example, from Kenya. We have been exporting Kenya and now we are going to import from them, “said Minister Nankabirwa.
Besides turning to Kenya, the minister said that they have also re-activated other power sources, namely the Namanve-based Thermo (diesel-burning) plant for 50 megawatts, and also turned to Kakira Sugar Works for 20 megawatts generated from burning bagasse (the fibrous sugarcane waste that remains after juice for sugar is extracted).