The 6.6-megawatt Nyagak III hydropower project is 80% complete, according to the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL). The Nyagak III hydropower project, which is being constructed in Paidha Sub County, Zombo District, is being built as a Public Private Partnership between UEGCL, the Consortium of Hydromax Ltd, and Dott Services Ltd.
According to UEGCL, the Nyagak III plant is a significant strategic asset that will address the challenges with Uganda’s northeastern region’s power supply (West Nile subregion). The project is being carried out while the government works hard to link the West Nile Subregion to the national power grid.
Since the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) was unbundled in 2003, the region was never connected to the national grid.
The $19.39 million project will add two generators to the region’s existing power supply. They include the 8.3-megawatt Euata Thermal Plant in Arua District and the 3.5-megawatt Nyagak 1 Hydro Power Plant.
The Euata thermal plant is run by Electromaxx. It is said that the Nyagak 1 hydropower plant is also run by the West Nile Rural Electrification Company Limited (WENRECo).
When was the Nyagak III hydropower project first initiated
The Nyagak III hydropower project’s construction was initiated in 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in 33 months.
The multi-billion mini-dam project, however, has faced a number of delays. As a result of a compensation dispute in 2019, construction at Nyagak was put on hold. The Paidha chiefdom requested 90 million shillings from UEGCL to evacuate its cultural heritage from the site.
Heavy rains in April of this year put the Nyagak III hydro-power dam’s construction in jeopardy. This forced the contractor to suspend excavation work on the dam’s powerhouse. The region had heavy rains with thunderstorms and lightning. The rains made it hard for trucks to get to the site and slowed down work.
According to UEGCL, the Commercial Operations Date was delayed to March 2023 due to financial difficulties, COVID-19 disruptions that included the many lockdowns in India and Uganda, the manufacturer of turbines, supply chain disruptions brought on by the rise in fuel prices, and the fuel crisis, among other factors. The erratic electricity supply in the West Nile subregion is expected to be addressed by the Nyagak III hydropower plant.
Project Overview
Nyagak III Power Station is a 6.6 megawatt run-of-the-river mini hydroelectric power project under construction in Uganda. The facility is located across the Nyagak River in Nyapea Sub County, downstream of the existing Nyagak I Power Station.
The facility’s reservoir has a normal elevation of 1,380m. Its power station will be made of 2 x 3.3 MW turbines. Its annual generation will be 36.27 GWh.
Reported earlier
Nov 2015
Nyagak III Small Hydro Power Project in Uganda to be constructed
The construction of the Nyagak III Small Hydro Power Project in Uganda is set to commence soon, this is after the Ugandan Government and a German firm signed a US$ 1.8m agreement.
The agreement which was signed by Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) on behalf of the government took place at the UEGCL offices in Nakasero. The German firm GOPA-International Energy Consultants GmbH together with an Italian-based Zollet Ingegneria is owner’s engineer for the project was present during the signing ceremony.
Dr. Eng. Harrison Mutikanga, chief executive officer of UEGCL confirmed the news and said that he was confident that the firms were highly regarded and that they will deliver quality results.
He further pointed out that the Nyagak III Small Hydro Power Project in Uganda will be developed as a public–private partnership by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) (Genmax Nyagak Limited) formed between UEGCL and the procured Private Sector Partner, a consortium of Hydromax Limited and Dott Services Limited.
Anil Ghatikar, executive director GOPA-International Energy Consultants GmbH Sub Sahara Africa was also confident about this initiative and said that the firm has a reputable team of workers and that they are committed to producing quality work which underpins the worldwide reputation, and size of the firm.
GOPA is an independent German engineering and consulting company that focuses on developing practical, innovative, and cost-effective solutions for the design and improvement of Power Systems, the use of Renewable Energy sources, and the application of Sustainable Energy technologies around the world.
Zollet Ingegneria Srl is an engineering company specializing in consulting and project design field.
March 2019
Uganda to commence construction of Nyagak Mini-hydro Power Dam
The government of Uganda has tasked Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) to speed up preparation activities to pave way for construction works of the Nyagak Mini-hydro Power Dam in West Nile.
“This project is key to us and the government is ready to avail funds for construction works to begin,” said State Minister for Energy Simon D’Ujanga while officiating the revival of the project plans.
Also Read: Kikagati hydropower project in Uganda receives US $27m funding
Nyagak Mini-hydro Power Dam
The Nyagak power project was initially set to begin in 2018 but suffered a major setback when financier KFW, a German state-owned development bank pulled out of the course. KFW had committed US $8m towards the project.
The Minister said that the government will pick the project at 30 % equity since the project is being developed through a Public- Private Partnership model which will see the remaining 70% debt mobilized by the new private investor, Genmax.
Genmax comprises Tata Consulting Engineers as the project designer, Dott Services as the contractor, and Hydomax Limited. Hydromax’s executive director Mr. Reddy Maheswara said that construction works begin in May.
The entire project is estimated to cost about US $19.4m. Mr. Maheswara added that they are hosting a team from TDB Bank (formerly PTA) to access the project before approving funding for the same.
“We are having a team from TDB Bank coming into the country to do due diligence, on providing funding,” said Mr. Maheswara.
Genmax, the project developer will operate the dam for 20 years before handing it back to the government while German-based GOPA International Energy Consultants will supervise it. UEGCL’s chief executive officer Harrison Mutikanga said the project construction timeline is 33 months.
The project construction timeline, according to Harrison Mutikanga is 33 months. Upon completion, it will produce an estimated power capacity of 6.6MW.
Jan 2020
Uganda halts construction of its first solar hydro hybrid power plant
Construction of the first solar hydro hybrid power plant in Uganda has been halted. Mr. Simon Kasyate, head of communications and corporate affairs at Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) made the announcement and said that results from feasibility studies done on the project came out negative.
Early last year, the government embarked on feasibility studies to ascertain the viability of the construction of a solar hydro hybrid plant on the 6.6MW Nyagak III dam in West Nile. The solar backup was meant to absorb the shocks created by the effects of unpredictable weather conditions. Mr. Simon said that the study shows a precursor to the development of the first hybrid energy generation project in Uganda.
Nyagak power project
“Studies were carried out and at the moment, we do not think it makes dollar sense to do so and it was not meeting viability for many other reasons. At the moment, Nyagak is being developed as an explicit hydropower project,” said Mr. Simon Kasyate.
“We were asking ourselves where we are going to put the solar panels. Earlier thinking was that we would put them on the reservoir created but consequently, financial, environmental, and social viability does not make it possible to set up the hybrid dam,” he added.
Nyagak power project estimated to cost US $19.4m, will be developed through a Public- Private Partnership model through which the government will pick up the project at 30% equity while the remaining 70% debt mobilized by the new private investor, Genmax. The construction timeline is 33 months.
