Energy microgrid Uganda

How many mini-grids are there in Uganda?

Uganda has 34 installed mini-grids that serve ap-proximately 20,000 households. That’s less than 1 percent of the 7.3 million households in the country. Solar and hydro make up the vast majority of proj-ects in Uganda – 40 percent and 34 percent re-spectively (Figure 100).

Who owns a mini-grid in Uganda?

In Uganda, utilities, private companies, communi-ties, or some combination of the three operate mini-grids. Generally, a private-sector player develops and operates the mini-grid, owning the generating asset and bearing the cost of construction. Today, seven independent power producers (IPPs) operate -torial Power and Pamoja Energy.

How will a mini-grid interact with the central grid in Uganda?

There are no clear rules in Uganda for how a mini-grid is to interact with the central grid in the future when the main grid gets built out to where a mini-grid is located. However, developers recognize that the grid is unlikely ever to get connected to where they have been operating on Lake Victoria.

How mature is Uganda's renewable-hybrid mini-grid market?

Uganda’s renewable-hybrid mini-grid market is less mature than those in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania both in terms of the number of projects completed and the number of players operating. Uganda has 34 installed mini-grids that serve ap-proximately 20,000 households. That’s less than 1 percent of the 7.3 million households in the country.

Why is the mini-grid market so slow in Uganda?

Despite the opportunity for further mini-grid de-velopment in Uganda, the market has been slow to take off, largely due to a fragmented regulatory envi-ronment. Among other issues, the country’s current policies fail to explicitly set an energy access target to be met through mini-grids.

How many solar microgrids have been installed in Kenya?

To-date we have installed 10 solar microgrids in Kenya with a combined capacity of 25.42kw! This has meant reliable, clean electricity for the homes and businesses of more than 3,000 people. These systems not only provide lighting and household electricity needs, but they can also be used to power irrigation pumps.