Name and Location
Karuma hydropower project, Kiryandongo, Uganda.

Client
The Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.

Project Description
The project entails the construction of a 600 MW to 700 MW hydropower plant, in the Kiryandongo district, in western Uganda. The facility will be located about 3 km upstream of the Karuma bridge and 80 km downstream of Lake Kyoga, on the Nile river.

It will feature six 100 MW units; a 20 m concrete gravity dam; a diversion channel; a submerged ogee spillway; a pressure shaft; a downstream surge chamber; an underground powerhouse on the left bank of the Kyoga Nile; and a rectangular forebay, with an inclined trash rack on the left bank of the Kyoga Nile that is inclined at 112º to the dam axis.

Value
A 2012 energy report estimates the project at $2.2-billion.

Duration
The first 200 MW is expected to be commissioned in 2018.

Latest Developments
The government of Uganda and China are to provide joint funding for the construction of the Karuma hydroelectric project, according to a Ministry of Energy official.

Head of Communications at Uganda’s Ministry of Energy Yusuf Bukenya Matovu told local media recently that government would use money from the Energy Fund and credit from China to fund the project.
Government will reportedly provide $700-million, while China will provide concessional funding totalling $500-million.

In June, SinoHydro was awarded the contract to build the Karuma power station at the cost of $1.38-billion, offered in discredited contractor China Water & Electricity Corporation’s bid, as well as the contract to build a transmission line from Karuma to Kampala at $287-million.

SinoHydro also committed $150-million in prefinance for the project as government proceeded with negotiations with the project’s financiers.

SinoHydro was expected to provide an implementation proposal for the Ministry by July 11, while the signing of the engineering, procurement and construction contract has been tentatively set for August 2.

Construction work is supposed to start four days later, with groundbreaking on August 9.

A loan application by the three parties ¬– SinoHydro, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy – is supposed to be lodged in August, with disbursement expected by December 24.

The first 200 mW will be commissioned in April 2018 and handover of the project is expected to follow four months later.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SinoHydro (construction contract).

On Budget and on Time?
Uganda’s government announced a plan in 2009 to construct the Karuma plant on its own, after talks for Norway’s Norpak Power to develop the site had collapsed a year earlier.

The project has since missed numerous stated deadlines to begin construction, as government continued to seek investors. Uganda announced in March that it had cancelled the winning bid with China Water & Electricity Corporation for the project, after discovering irregularities in the procurement process.

Contact Details for Project Information
Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, tel +256 41 431 1111 or fax +256 41 423 4732.
SinoHydro, email sinohydro.xifei@gmail.com.