We shall reduce power tariffs for local manufacturers – says Nankabirwa
Nankabirwa further said that the government has prioritized expansion of the transmission line infrastructure to evacuate power from generation plants as well as provide reliable power supply to various demand centres.
The Minister for Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa has assured members of the Uganda Manufactures Association that the ministry plans to eventually lower the resultant Tariffs.
“Am aware that Uganda Manufacturers Association members remain the largest consumers of electricity accounting for over 70% of electricity consumption. My ministry is implementing several interventions aimed at not only increasing the electricity supply capacity but also lowering the resultant Tariffs, especially for manufacturers so as to facilitate the competitiveness of products manufactured in Uganda on local and regional markets,” Nankabirwa said.
Nankabirwa revealed this while officiating the UMA-ERA electricity Dialogue aimed at facilitating increased power uptake by the manufacturing sector held at UMA Showground in Lugogo on Wednesday.
The Manufacturers told the minister that they still have a challenge of high power costs which makes the sector Uncompetitive.
The chairman UMA Deo Kayemba pointed out that only the Extra Large category consumes power at US Cents 8/KWH on average.
“There are still significant power reliability challenges in the manufacturing sector despite the government’s progress in Kapeeka and Namanve industrial park,” he said, before adding
“We want at least the reduction to US cents 5/KWH and we would also like it to apply to all local manufacturers regardless of whether they are in industrial parks or not and whether small or large”.
In response, Nankabirwa assured Manufacturers that the current installed electricity generation capacity is 1378.1MW which is expected to increase to over 2000MW once the 600MW of Karuma hydropower plant is commissioned later in the year.
“I would like to encourage all manufacturers to make the necessary investments to expand their operations and increase electricity demand. It is through increased production and consumption of the generated electricity that the overall Tariffs will sustainably be reduced by the government,” she confirmed.
Nankabirwa further said that the government has prioritized expansion of the transmission line infrastructure to evacuate power from generation plants as well as provide reliable power supply to various demand centres.
“Our target under the National Development Plan (NDP)3 is to increase transmission lines from 2340KM to 4500KM by 2025,” the minister stressed.
