New US$ 57m Isimba Hydropower Dam in Uganda to be complete in 3 years

Posted on : Monday, 20th October 2014

Preliminary works on Isimba Hydropower Dam that will add 183MW of power into Uganda’s national grid kicked off last month, with construction works scheduled for three years. Construction of the Kayunga District-based dam will benefit from government’s counterpart funding of 15%, in addition to a low interest loan acquired by the Government of Uganda from Chinese government, through Chinese Exim Bank.

The Isimba Hydropower Dam project will be set up on 37,000 acres of land in both Kayunga and Kamuli districts.

Those displaced as part of this initiative will be compensated by the government according to Uganda Vice President Edward Kiwanuka. The president said this when inspecting preliminary works at the site, and added that if the activities were followed, construction would be completed as scheduled. He said that the works had been running on smoothly.

Kiwanuka said some people displaced had been compensated, and that the rest should exercise patience. The Vice said the government had paid out a total of US$ 2.6m to those affected. Those paid out were those that had occupied lands where powerhouse, the dam, a substation for power evacuation to Bujagali were to be set up. A total of around US$ 15.7m.

The project will also involve construction of a road across river Nile and connecting Kayunga and Kamuli districts. Those whose land will be affected by the construction of this road have been compensated.