Uganda faced a rare nationwide electricity blackout on Friday for several hours, as announced by the state-run power grid, with power gradually restored later in the afternoon.
In a post on X, Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), the entity tasked with power transmission across the nation, attributed the power outage to technical malfunctions at the Karuma Hydro Power plant.
“We’re informing the general public that a national blackout occurred this morning due to a load rejection test at the Karuma Hydro Power Plant. Restoration efforts are currently underway,” UETCL stated.
UETCL announced on X platform that the grid shutdown took place during the testing phase of a newly completed $1.5 billion (Ksh.195 billion) Chinese-built 600-megawatt hydropower plant on the Nile River in the country’s north.
Two hours later, another post indicated that the grid had been partially restored.
Located 110km downstream of Lake Kyoga in Kiryandongo District, the 600MW Karuma power plant sits along the Nile River, approximately 270km from Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
At an approximate cost of $1.7 billion financed by the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank), the dam plays a critical role in addressing the region’s rising electricity demands, aiding efforts to expedite industrialization.
