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European Union inaugurates Uganda's first Solar Power Plant

15.12.2016
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The new 10 megawatt facility is Uganda's first grid-connected solar plant and will generate clean, low-carbon, sustainable electricity to 40,000 homes, schools and businesses in the area.

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On 12th December 2016, the EU Head of Delegation to Uganda, H.E Ambassador Kristian Schmidt, together with the Minister of State for Energy, Honourable D’Ujanga Simon, the Ambassadors of Germany and the Netherlands, representatives of Access Power, EREN RE and other donors, celebrated the inauguration of East Africa's largest solar plant in Soroti District. The new 10 megawatt facility is Uganda's first grid-connected solar plant and will generate clean, low-carbon, sustainable electricity to 40,000 homes, schools and businesses in the area.

The project was developed under the Global Energy Transfer Feed in Tariff (“GET FiT”), a dedicated support scheme for renewable energy projects managed by Germany’s KfW Development Bank in partnership with Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA) and funded by the governments of Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

"Uganda is a good place to invest in solar energy. The regulatory framework is conducive and Government rightly recognises Uganda's energy future must be renewable," said Ambassador Schmidt, pointing out: "It is great that this is now triggering private sector interest in solar power generation."

The US$19 million Soroti Solar Plant is in part funded by the European Union through its Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund with 8.7 million euros (34 billion Uganda Shillings), through the Global Energy Transfer Feed in Tariff (“GET FiT”) Solar Facility. The EU contribution is provided in the form of result-based premium payments per kWh of delivered electricity.

The GET FiT is a dedicated support scheme for renewable energy projects managed by Germany’s KfW Development Bank in partnership with Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA) and funded by the governments of Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom in addition to the European Union. The Development Partners support has been critical to attract the private sector and to leverage public development funds.

The construction of the solar power plant was completed after eight months of smooth implementation, following a fair and transparent procurement process and timely carrying out of the installation works, as pointed out by the EU Ambassador. Mr Schmidt also highlighted the importance of this project in terms of its contribution to the global efforts to switch to full renewable energy sources.

"At the UN conference on climate change in Paris in December 2015 and in Marrakech last month," he said, "the world reached a ground-breaking agreement to limit global warming and accelerate the introduction of renewable energy worldwide. Uganda may hit international headlines for its use of renewable energy, notwithstanding its oil found in the Albertine Rift.”

The EU has committed funds for the construction of another 10 MW solar plant in Tororo also through the GET FiT programme.

The EU’s commitment, as recalled by the EU Ambassador, “is to help Uganda achieve energy access for all. In fact, while Uganda will soon achieve an oversupply of clean energy, access to electricity stands at only 20%. The next challenge for Uganda is therefore to bring power to the people." With other development partners, the EU welcomes the current reflection about a new policy on electricity access and stands ready to support the Government of Uganda in that direction. This could be achieved through grid connections but also through off-grid access through decentralised systems in remote areas.

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