China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), the company responsible for the construction of the Isimba hydroelectric dam, is taking a little longer to complete the project. The slowdown is due, inter alia, to the bad weather conditions observed in recent months in the Great Lakes region.
“CWE (China International Water and Electric Corporation) has submitted an application to the Minister of Energy and Development for an extension of the delivery time of the Isimba Hydroelectric Dam,” announced Simon Kasyate, Business Manager of Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL).
UEGCL, which supervises the Isimba hydroelectric project, states that the construction of the dam is now 87.12% complete, even though at the end of July, the progress was 97.5% in line with forecasts. For CWE, the slowdown on the final step is due to a “delay in the design of embankment dams” as well as adverse weather conditions during the last three months.
One of Uganda’s largest hydroelectric dams
However, the hydroelectric project is quite well advanced. Simon Kasyate says the plant’s concrete made structures are 99.9% complete. The roofing, wall cladding of the power plant, the assembly bay and the auxiliary power plant have all been completed. CWE only requires an additional three months to deliver the project.
The Ugandan government is following the work very closely as it is one of the largest hydropower projects underway in the country. With a capacity of 183.2 MW, the dam is located on the White Nile, the same river on which the Bujagali hydroelectric plant is built.
The Isimba project, launched in 2013, is 85% financed by Exim Bank of China, to the tune of 483 million dollars. It is a loan with an interest rate of 2%, repayable over a period of 20 years. The Government of Uganda completed the financing package by contributing 15 per cent, for a total amount of $570 million. The project was entrusted to the Chinese company CWE, which finally began work only in 2015, due to the delay by Ugandan parliamentarians who took a long time to validate the loan requested by the government from Exim Bank of China; the same Chinese bank that also financed the Karuma hydroelectric project (with a production capacity of 600 MW) currently under construction by Sinohydro.
Jean Marie Takouleu
