On Thursday (27 September) the Government of Uganda commissioned the Karuma Hydropower Project (KHP), a 600MW hydropower plant on the River Nile.

KHP will be the country’s largest power generation facility to date.

The $1.7bn project, to be constructed by Chinese hydropower company Sinohydro Corporation, will be fully financed by China. China’s Exim Bank provided a $1.4bn loan while the Chinese Government covered the remaining costs.

The facility will increase Uganda’s generation capacity to just above 2GW, according to Reuters.

In addition to the commission, a 400kV, 248km transmission line to distribute the electricity from the plant was also launched on Thursday. Another $180m transmission line is currently under construction to share the electricity from Uganda with South Sudan.

Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong heralded the project as a “flagship project of China-Uganda cooperation”, explaining that it will generate clean and affordable energy for the country.

It will also support power developments in neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya to which Uganda exports electricity.

Construction of the project began in 2013 but was delayed multiple times due to missed completion targets caused by logistical challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Ugandan Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa.

KHP is the second hydropower plant in Uganda funded by China, with the 188MW Isimba hydropower dam financed in 2019. The facility is also located on the River Nile.

According to Power Technology’s parent company, GlobalData, hydropower generation constituted 91.27% of Uganda’s electricity generation in 2023.