The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa has revealed that Uganda is looking to produce 52000 MW of Electricity by 2040 so that Ugandans can get clean energy.
Nankabirwa also said that this is aimed at modernizing agriculture and adding value to the minerals produced in the country where all mining and melting sites are electrified to increase production.
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The minister also added that to achieve this, the country will get 50 percent of the required electricity from renewables, and the 40 percent with come from nuclear.
According to the minister, Uganda’s nuclear potential is 24000 MW and by 2031 the country will generate 1000 MW from Nuclear by 2031.
Additionally, she said that she is to lobby parliament so that her ministry is not underfunded to achieve the desired dream.
The Minister also stated that 80 percent of Ugandans by 2040 will be connected to the grid using the World Bank loan of 638 million USD which will help the country connect 1 million Ugandans connected for free to the grid for free.
She noted that distributed renewables still play a pivotal role in Uganda’s electricity supply system supported by technological developments.
Ivan Tumuhimbise the Country Director of the World Wide Fund for Nature urged the government to review the tax regime on renewable energy products beyond solar but also to include batteries and other connection facilities for easy access to connection so that more people can tap into investing in renewable energy for solar for domestic commercial use.
Tumuhimbise also noted that about 90 percent of Uganda’s households depend on biomass for cooking which makes it the key driver of environmental degradation.
He added that there needs to be transitions to stopping the use of biomass by creating alternative sources of cooking energy,in clean energy and policies on agriculture, forest, and other land uses.
Tumuhimbise further intimated that there is a need to invest in renewable energy that enables to transformation of agriculture so that the land is not degraded highly.
Irene Batebe the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development said that as a sector they are focused on the generation Transmission and distribution of electricity.
She added that the clean energy transition by the Ministry of Energy is slowed down by a lack of adequate funding so that they can achieve the transition.
He also noted the problem of technical capacity gaps in the government and the private sector to manage the repair of renewable energy products like solar panels among others.