Energy in Uganda

Burning of renewable resources provides approximately 90 percent of the energy in Uganda, though the government is attempting to become energy self-sufficient. While much of the hydroelectric potential of the country is untapped, the government decision to expedite the creation of domestic petroleum capacity coupled with the discovery of large petroleum reserves holds the promise of a significant change in Uganda's status as an energy-importing country.

Background

In the 1980s, charcoal and fuel wood met more than 95 percent of Uganda's energy needs. In 2005 and 2006, low water levels of Lake Victoria, the main source of the country's electricity generation potential, led to a generation shortage and an energy crisis. As a result, the country experienced frequent and prolonged blackouts. As of June 2016, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, about twenty percent of Ugandans had access to electricity. As of February 2015 and according to the Uganda Electricity Regulatory Authority, Uganda's installed electricity capacity was 810 megawatts, with peak demand of 509.4 megawatts so that "the incidence of load shedding due to shortage in supply is now close to zero." As of September 2017, according to Irene Muloni, the Uganda Minister of Energy, the country's generation capacity had increased to 950 megawatts. Uganda expects to have a generating capacity of at least 1,900 megawatts by the end of 2019, as forecast by the Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. In March 2018, the World Bank Group estimated that about 26 percent of Uganda's population had access to grid-electricity at that time. In March 2019, the United States Department of Commerce estimated that 55 percent of Uganda's urban population and about 10 percent of the country's rural population has access to grid electricity then.