Currently, access to electricity in Uganda stands at 47.1% of the population, with significant disparities between urban and rural areas—57.2% in urban areas versus 10% in rural regions.
Uganda is expected to have a power generation capacity of about 1,600 megawatts by the end of this year, against a demand of 950, leaving a surplus of more than 500 megawatts. There have therefore been calls on the government of Uganda abandon the thermal energy which is considered expensive and also environmentally not friendly
The unparalleled decline is staggering in both its scale and swiftness, with serious potential implications for energy security and clean energy transitions. At the start of 2020, global energy investment was on track for growth of around 2 per cent, which would have been the largest annual rise in spending in six years.
The State Minister in charge of energy Simon DUjanga says besides generating more hydroelectric power, one of the long-term policy measures to increase diversity and security in energy supply in the country is to develop small renewable projects including the use solar PV generated electrical energy.
