Kiira Hydroelectric Power Station, is a

hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, with an installed capacity of .

Location

The power station is located at

Kimaka Kimaka is a neighborhood in the city of Jinja, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. Location Kimaka is bordered by to the west by the Nile River, (from Nalubaale Power Station to Bujagali Power Station), to the south by the Kampala-Jinja Highway ...

, a northern suburb of Jinja, in

Jinja District Jinja District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Jinja is the district's main municipal and commercial center. Location Jinja District is bordered by Kamuli District to the north, Luuka District to the east, Mayuge Dist ...

, in the Eastern Region of Uganda, approximately northwest of the central business district of the city of Jinja. Kiira Power Station operates next to the

Nalubaale Power Station Nalubaale Power Station, formerly known as Owen Falls Dam, is a hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near its source at Lake Victoria in Uganda. ''Nalubaale'' is the Luganda name for Lake Victoria. Location The dam sits across the N ...

at the point where the

River Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

pours out of

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

starting its journey to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The coordinates of Kiira Hydroelectric Power Station are: 0°27'01.0"N, 33°11'08.0"E (Latitude:0.450272; Longitude:33.185558).

History

In 1993, work started on the

extension project. The new project is a second powerhouse located about northeast of the Nalubaale Power Station, which was built in 1954. A new canal was cut to bring water from

to the new powerhouse. Major construction was completed in 1999. The first power from two units out of the installed five units, came online in 2000. As of 2003, three of the five hydro power generators had been installed. Installation of the fifth and final turbine was completed in January 2007. Each unit at the extension has a capacity of 40 megawatts. During official opening ceremonies in 2003, the extension was named the "Kiira Power Station". Design and project management of the extension project was by Acres International (now part of

Hatch Ltd Hatch is a global multidisciplinary management, engineering and development consultancy. Its group companies have more than 9,000 staff in 70+ offices. In 2015, Hatch was ranked as a top 20 International Design Firm according to the Engineering N ...

), Canada.

Operations

In 2002, the

government of Uganda Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...

, through the

Uganda Electricity Generation Company The Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) is a parastatal company whose primary purpose is to generate electric power for use in Uganda and for sale to neighboring countries. As of December 2017, UEGCL's generation capacity was 380 ...

, a 100 percent

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

, awarded a 20-year operational, management, and maintenance concession to Eskom Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

, the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n energy company, to cover both Kiira Power Station and nearby

. Eskom sells the electricity it generates to the

Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) is a parastatal company whose primary purpose is to make bulk electricity purchases and transmit the electricity along high voltage wires to local and foreign distribution points. UETCL ...

(UETCL), the authorized single buyer. UETCL resells the power to

Umeme Umeme Limited is the largest energy distributor in Uganda, distributing about 97 percent of all electricity used in the country. The shares of the stock of the company are listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and are cross listed o ...

, the energy distributor.

Recent developments

In April 2021, the

Daily Monitor The ''Daily Monitor'' is a Ugandan independent daily newspaper. Its name is shared by the ''Saturday Monitor'' and ''Sunday Monitor'', which are also published by Monitor Publications Limited. ''Daily Monitor'' averaged a daily circulation of 24,2 ...

newspaper reported that Eskom Uganda, the concessionaire for this dam had replaced the "electronic governor", which "controls the flow of water through the turbines". The system controls the rate of water flow and thus the amount of power output by the dam. This equipment was last replaced in 2007 and "had reached the end of its operational life". The new equipment was manufactured and installed by Andrtiz Hydro GmbH and has a guaranteed life cycle of 15 years. The equipment cost USh5 billion (approx. US$1.4 million) (approx. €1.15 million), paid by Eskom Uganda.

References

External links