Also included in the project is a transmission line which will connect the plant located on the Ishasha River with the national grid. This is not the first time that Uganda has been in the news for hydro power projects. It also follows a trend in Sub Saharan Africa towards increased investment in both small and large scale hydro power projects. It is hoped that the project which will cost $12 million USD in total will come online in 2011. Current rates for power from thermal plants are about 20 cents per kWh , with the new hydro scheme it is expected that these rates will fall to 9 cents per kWh. This means that the electricity coming from this plant will be more then sustainable and help the local residents achieve large cost savings over the life of the project.
Spokesmen for the IFC were quoted as saying; “The project, though small, will help meet power demand in Uganda at a competitive rate and on a sustainable basis,” “The Ishasha project will be EPL’s first in Uganda. The sponsor is taking comfort in both IFC’s status as a multilateral and its experience and understanding of the power sector in Uganda,”.
In addition to these benefits also 22,100 tons of CO2 emissions will be saved a year, giving a further chance for the developers and the citizens to bring back a solid cash flow to fund this project.
