By Juma NSUBUGA
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa says the emergency shutdown of the 183 Mega Watts Isimba Hydro-power plant was due to operational challenges.
Nankabirwa says the Isimba Hydro-power plant faced operational challenges that led to the flow of water into the powerhouse.
“The shutdown was undertaken as a safety procedure to ensure safety of staff and protection of the electro-mechanical equipment” the minister says in a statement accessed by this News site.
Nankabirwa reiterated that Uganda Electricity Generation Company limited (UEGCL) is undertaking appropriate measures to restore power production at Isimba Hydro-power plant and that power generation will resume in three weeks time.
She further says that the implementation of load shedding to balance power demand and supply and ensure that grid stability is achieved and sustained will be rectified by UETCL.
The minister stated that UETCL is doing all the possibilities to ensure continuity of electricity by importing approximately 60MW of power from Kenya.
“There’s electricity dispatch of up to 50MW of power from Banange thermal power plant and more 20MW kakira sugar power plant” she said adding that all planned non-emergency shutdown/outage permits have been suspended” she stressed
The shutdown occured last week causing load shedding in some parts of the country.
