By Frank Kamuntu
South Sudan, which has one of the world’s lowest rates of access to electricity at 5%, is planning a high-voltage line for power imports from neighboring Uganda.
When complete in about two years, the 308-kilometer (191-mile) line will link the capital, Juba, with Olwiyo in the north of Uganda, according to Michael Wani, director-general for regional electricity at South Sudan’s ministry of electricity and dams.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan 12 years ago, agreed to pay $0.1 per kilowatt hour, Wani said in an interview in Juba.
An ongoing African Development Bank-funded feasibility study will determine costs for the project. The 400 kilovolt supply line could be developed under a public private partnership model depending on the outcomes of the study, according to Uganda’s energy ministry.
Uganda’s peak electricity demand is only about 60% of its 1,344 megawatts of capacity. Generation will rise to 1,978 megawatts later this year when the Karuma hydropower plant is commissioned, according to the energy ministry.
