Govt to commence construction of Nyagak mini-hydro power dam

Published by Secondopinion Writer at March 22, 2019

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By George Mangula

President Museveni Yoweri yesterday having commissioned the US$567.7million 183.2 MW Isimba Hydropower Dam in Kayunga District, The Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) has now been tasked to speed up preparation activities to pave way for the construction works of the Nyagak Mini-hydro Power Dam in West Nile.

“This project is key to us and the government is ready to avail funds for construction works to begin” said State Minister for Energy Simon D’Ujanga while officiating the revival of the project plans.

Nyagak power project was initially set to begin in 2018 but suffered a major setback when financier KFW, German state owned development bank pulled out of the course. KFW had committed US$8 million towards the project.

The Minister said that the government will pick the project at 30 percent equity since the project is being developed through a Public- Private Partnership model which will see the remaining 70 percent debt mobilised by the new private investor, Genmax.

Genmax comprises of Tata Consulting Engineers as the project designer, Dott Services as the contractor and Hydomax Limited. Hydromax’s executive director Mr Reddy Maheswara said that construction works begin in May.

The entire project is estimated to cost about US$19.4m. Maheswara said that they are hosting a team from TDB Bank (formerly PTA) to access the project before approving funding for the same.

“We are having a team from TDB Bank coming into the country to do due diligence, on providing funding,” said Mr Maheswara.

Genmax, the project developer will operate the dam for 20 years before handing it back to the government while German-based GOPA International Energy Consultants will supervise it. UEGCL’s chief executive officer Harrison Mutikanga said the project construction timeline is 33 months.

The project construction timelines, according to Harrison Mutikanga is 33 months. Upon completion, it will produce an estimated power capacity of 6.6MW.