The Government is targeting to connect 54000 new customers under the Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project (UREAP) before it ends by December, 31.
According to the project coordinator Samuel Bishop, 87,450 households in 981 villages have so far been connected to the National grid under this project supported by the African Development Bank and the European Union.
During stakeholder engagement in Jinja, which attracted officials from ministries, agencies, and departments, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development revealed that the project which started in 2015 is ending this year.
“The project has been able to extend grid of about 1790Km and over 2600Km of low voltage which connects from the line to individual customers,” Bishop said.
He revealed that they have installed 981 transformers at different load centers including town centres and villages that have been connected to the grid.
He says they have a target of connecting more than 54000 new customers before the end of this year.
“We are in the process of connecting close to 54000 unto the grid on a single phase and we shall also consider three phases for those who deal in milling and other businesses including health centres, schools, and churches among others,” he said
As the project comes to an end this year , the government has embarked on fresh negotiations with the African Development Bank for another loan.
“So far we have spent over USD 85 million of the loan the remaining 15% of the loan is still outstanding to be paid out as the contractors close out their activities,” Bishop said.
In 2015 Uganda secured a loan of USD 100M from the African Development Bank and an additional grant of 11.2M Euros from the European Union for the Uganda Rural Electricity Access project which has been extended to about 55 districts.
