Special-Report_Doing-Business-in-Uganda-East-Africa-and-Beyond_East-African-Business-Week_Trade-Report Mar. 2015 | Page 9

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SPECIAL REPORT
East African Business Week I February 23 - March 1, 2015

Doing business in Uganda and beyond

Uganda’s Electricity Sector - Growing towards
Efficient, Reliable and Sustainable Supply
Following the ratification of the Electricity
Act in 1999, the subsequent liberalization of
the electricity industry and unbundling of
the state-owned vertically integrated utility – Uganda Electricity Board in 2000, the
performance of the electricity supply industry has steadily improved over the past ten
years with more private sector participation
and Government investment.
There has been an increase in generation
capacity from an installed capacity of 380
MW in 2003 to 852 MW by the end of 2013.
The capacity increase was occasioned by
commissioning of five small hydropower
projects, addition of co-generation capacity from sugar producing companies, commissioning of the 250 MW Bujagali hydropower plant in 2012 and establishment of
two heavy fuel oil-based plants.
Uganda’s transmission network has increased from 1,165km in 2003 to 1,626km
in 2013, the main addition being the Bujagali interconnection line. On the distribution
side, we have witnessed an increase in the
number of distribution utilities to nine from a
single utility at the tim