Energy in Uganda
Encyclopedia
Burning of renewable resource
s provides much 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 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.
and fuel wood met more than 95% of Uganda's total energy needs. These further provided 75% of commercial energy needs, while 21% was provided by petroleum products. Only 3% of commercial energy was provided by electricity
on a grid. Attempts to convert the population to fuel-efficient stoves proved difficult due to resistance to change. The various wars of the 1980s resulted in the destruction of conductors and transformers, though the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) managed to extend power to a few new factories. Currently the country is still plagued by frequent blackouts that last for many hours, especially hard-hitting in the rural areas.
Much of the White Nile
winds its way through the country, though little of the hydroelectric potential of the country is harnessed. The poor maintenance during the politically unstable 1980s further resulted in a drop in production at the Owen Falls Dam (now Nalubaale Power Station
), at the mouth of the White Nile, from 635.5 million kilowatt-hours in 1986 to 609.9 million kilowatt-hours in 1987, with six of ten generators broken by the end of 1988. A 200 MW extension to Nalubaale in 2000 raised total production to 380 MW, cementing Uganda's status as the major energy producer in East Africa.
The planned $550 million dam at Bujagali Falls
has been plagued with problems. It has been heavily criticized for being unnecessarily destructive to the environment and forcing the displacement of a large number of residents. The World Bank
suspended its support for the project in 2002, followed by the pullout the following year of US-based contractor AES
. A downstream sluice dam at Karuma Falls is less controversial but repercussions from the Bujagali troubles have slowed progress towards actual construction.
n refinery in Mombasa
, which in turns imports crude oil from abroad. In 1995, the governments of Kenya and Uganda agreed to investigate the possibility of extending the Mombasa–Eldoret
pipeline a further 320 km to Kampala. According to the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company
, the $97 million pipeline would provide 1.2 million cubic meters in its first year of operation. A bio-code programme was implemented in 2000, which allows authorities to determine if an end user is using officially imported petroleum products. The government reported a drop in diluted and adulterated samples taken from gas stations from 20% in December 2000 to 1.5% in September 2001.
By the early 2000s, Uganda was seeking domestic petroleum reserves in response to rising oil prices. In September 2002, Heritage Oil
announced the first exploratory well, in Block 3, located in the Semiliki Valley in western Uganda, in the hopes of confirming seismic studies showing 1.2 Goilbbl of oil in the basin. In June 2006, Hardman Resources of Australia
discovered oil sands
at Waranga 1, Waranga 2 and Mputa. President Yoweri Museveni
announced that he expected production of 6000 oilbbl/d to 10000 oilbbl/d by 2009. He further announced that a mini-refinery would be set up to produce diesel, kerosene
and heavy fuel oil
.
In July 2007, Heritage Oil, one of several companies prospecting around Lake Albert raised its estimate for the Kingfisher well (block 3A) in Bunyoro
, Hoima District
, stating they thought it bigger than 600 Moilbbl of crude. Heritage's partner, London
-based Tullow Oil
, which had bought Hardman Resources, was more guarded, but stated their confidence that the Albertine Basin as a whole contained over one billion barrels. The Kingfisher-1 well flowed 13893 oilbbl/d of 30-32 API
oil. This news came on the heels of Tullow's July 11, 2007 report that the Nzizi 2 appraisal well confirmed the presence of 14 Mcuft per day of natural gas
. Heritage in a report to its partners talked of Ugandan reserves of 2.4 Goilbbl worth $7 billion as the "most exciting new play in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade." However, development will require a 750 miles (1,207 km) pipeline to the coast, which will need $80 oil to justify.
Excitement was dampened by the deaths on August 3, 2007 of a Congolese soldier and Heritage geologist in a clash on the lake. Both the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) and Uganda moved troops to the border. This followed the detention by the DRC of four Ugandan soldiers it claimed to be on their side of the border, and preceded the murder of three Ugandan villagers by an incursion of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
, a Hutu
group descended from those responsible for the 1994 genocide
. Relations have been tense since the discovery of oil, as both countries seek to clarify the border delineation on the lake in their favor, in particular the ownership of small Rukwanzi Island
. Ugandan foreign minister Sam Kutesa
made an emergency visit to Kinshasa
in an attempt to smooth tensions. The Economist
magazine, noting that the DRC has assigned exploration blocks on its side of the border, proposed that the situation should sort itself amicably: Uganda needs a stable and secure border in order to attract foreign investment developing the oil reserves, while the cost of transporting the oil to the DRC's sole port at Matadi
is so prohibitive that the Congolese government is nearly obliged to seek pipeline access through Uganda.
Renewable resource
A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...
s provides much of the energy in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, though the government is attempting to become energy self-sufficient. While much of the hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
potential of the country is untapped, the government decision to expedite 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, charcoalCharcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
and fuel wood met more than 95% of Uganda's total energy needs. These further provided 75% of commercial energy needs, while 21% was provided by petroleum products. Only 3% of commercial energy was provided by electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
on a grid. Attempts to convert the population to fuel-efficient stoves proved difficult due to resistance to change. The various wars of the 1980s resulted in the destruction of conductors and transformers, though the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) managed to extend power to a few new factories. Currently the country is still plagued by frequent blackouts that last for many hours, especially hard-hitting in the rural areas.
Hydroelectricity
White Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...
winds its way through the country, though little of the hydroelectric potential of the country is harnessed. The poor maintenance during the politically unstable 1980s further resulted in a drop in production at the Owen Falls Dam (now Nalubaale Power Station
Nalubaale Power Station
Nalubaale Power Station, often known by its old name, Owen Falls Dam, is a hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near to its source at Lake Victoria in Uganda...
), at the mouth of the White Nile, from 635.5 million kilowatt-hours in 1986 to 609.9 million kilowatt-hours in 1987, with six of ten generators broken by the end of 1988. A 200 MW extension to Nalubaale in 2000 raised total production to 380 MW, cementing Uganda's status as the major energy producer in East Africa.
The planned $550 million dam at Bujagali Falls
Bujagali falls
Bujagali Falls is a waterfall near Jinja in Uganda where the Nile River comes out of Lake Victoria, sometimes considered the source of the Nile.-Proposed dam:...
has been plagued with problems. It has been heavily criticized for being unnecessarily destructive to the environment and forcing the displacement of a large number of residents. The World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
suspended its support for the project in 2002, followed by the pullout the following year of US-based contractor AES
AES Corporation
AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...
. A downstream sluice dam at Karuma Falls is less controversial but repercussions from the Bujagali troubles have slowed progress towards actual construction.
Oil and natural gas
Uganda is highly vulnerable to oil price shocks as it imports almost all of its 7000 oilbbl/d of oil (2004 figure) from the KenyaKenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n refinery in Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, which in turns imports crude oil from abroad. In 1995, the governments of Kenya and Uganda agreed to investigate the possibility of extending the Mombasa–Eldoret
Eldoret
Eldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...
pipeline a further 320 km to Kampala. According to the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company
Kenya Pipeline Company
Kenya Pipeline Company is a state corporation that has the responsibility of transporting, storing and delivering petroleum products to the consumers of Kenya by its pipeline system and oil depot network....
, the $97 million pipeline would provide 1.2 million cubic meters in its first year of operation. A bio-code programme was implemented in 2000, which allows authorities to determine if an end user is using officially imported petroleum products. The government reported a drop in diluted and adulterated samples taken from gas stations from 20% in December 2000 to 1.5% in September 2001.
Heritage Oil
Heritage Oil is an independent Jersey-based oil and gas exploration and production company. Its activities are focused on Africa, the Middle East and Russia. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange....
announced the first exploratory well, in Block 3, located in the Semiliki Valley in western Uganda, in the hopes of confirming seismic studies showing 1.2 Goilbbl of oil in the basin. In June 2006, Hardman Resources of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
discovered oil sands
Tar sands
Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen...
at Waranga 1, Waranga 2 and Mputa. President Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...
announced that he expected production of 6000 oilbbl/d to 10000 oilbbl/d by 2009. He further announced that a mini-refinery would be set up to produce diesel, kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
and heavy fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
.
In July 2007, Heritage Oil, one of several companies prospecting around Lake Albert raised its estimate for the Kingfisher well (block 3A) in Bunyoro
Bunyoro
Bunyoro is a kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in East Africa from the 16th to the 19th century. It is ruled by the Omukama of Bunyoro...
, Hoima District
Hoima District
Hoima District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its main municipal centre, Hoima.-Location:...
, stating they thought it bigger than 600 Moilbbl of crude. Heritage's partner, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil plc is a global oil and gas exploration company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has interests in over 85 licences across 23 countries and in 2010 produced 58,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day...
, which had bought Hardman Resources, was more guarded, but stated their confidence that the Albertine Basin as a whole contained over one billion barrels. The Kingfisher-1 well flowed 13893 oilbbl/d of 30-32 API
API gravity
The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks...
oil. This news came on the heels of Tullow's July 11, 2007 report that the Nzizi 2 appraisal well confirmed the presence of 14 Mcuft per day of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
. Heritage in a report to its partners talked of Ugandan reserves of 2.4 Goilbbl worth $7 billion as the "most exciting new play in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade." However, development will require a 750 miles (1,207 km) pipeline to the coast, which will need $80 oil to justify.
Excitement was dampened by the deaths on August 3, 2007 of a Congolese soldier and Heritage geologist in a clash on the lake. Both the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(DRC) and Uganda moved troops to the border. This followed the detention by the DRC of four Ugandan soldiers it claimed to be on their side of the border, and preceded the murder of three Ugandan villagers by an incursion of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda is the primary remnant Rwandan Hutu Power rebel group in the east of the of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is often referred to as simply the FDLR after its original French name: the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda...
, a Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
group descended from those responsible for the 1994 genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. Relations have been tense since the discovery of oil, as both countries seek to clarify the border delineation on the lake in their favor, in particular the ownership of small Rukwanzi Island
Rukwanzi Island
Rukwanzi Island is a disputed island in the southern portion of Lake Albert in Central Africa. It is home to approximately 1000 fishermen.-Ownership dispute:...
. Ugandan foreign minister Sam Kutesa
Sam Kutesa
Sam Kahamba Kutesa is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ugandan Cabinet, a position he has held since 13 January 2005. He is also the elected Member of Parliament for "Mawogola County", Sembabule District...
made an emergency visit to Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
in an attempt to smooth tensions. The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
magazine, noting that the DRC has assigned exploration blocks on its side of the border, proposed that the situation should sort itself amicably: Uganda needs a stable and secure border in order to attract foreign investment developing the oil reserves, while the cost of transporting the oil to the DRC's sole port at Matadi
Matadi
Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Bas-Congo province. It has a population of 245,862 . Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River from the mouth and below the last navigable point before rapids make the river impassable for a...
is so prohibitive that the Congolese government is nearly obliged to seek pipeline access through Uganda.
See also
- Ministry of Energy and Mineral DevelopmentMinistry of Energy and Mineral Development (Uganda)The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is a government ministry of Uganda, with offices in Kampala. The mandate of the Ministry, according to its website, is "To establish, promote the development, strategically manage and safeguard the rational and sustainable exploitation and utilization...
- Electricity Regulatory Authority (Uganda)Electricity Regulatory Authority (Uganda)The Electricity Regulatory Authority was created by the Electricity Act of 1999 as an agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development...