Bujagali Power Station
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The Bujagali Power Station is a hydroelectric power station across the
Victoria Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributary, tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
that harnesses the energy of its namesake, the Bujagali Falls, in
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. Construction began in 2007 and concluded in 2012. It was officially inaugurated on 8 October 2012 by Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...
and
Aga Khan IV Prince Karim al-Husseini (13 December 1936 – 4 February 2025), known as the Aga Khan IV, was the 49th Imamah, imam of Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Nizari Isma'ilism from 1957 until his death in 2025. He inherited the Imamate in Nizari doctrine ...
in the presence of African politicians and investors. The 250-megawatt power station was the largest hydroelectric energy source in Uganda when it was commissioned. However, the planned
Karuma Karuma is a settlement in the Western Region of Uganda. Location Karuma is in Kiryandongo District, Bunyoro sub-region. The town is approximately , by road, north of Karuma Falls. The town is also approximately , by road, west of Kamdini, o ...
and Ayago power stations would be larger. The funding for the station was a source of some concern, as investors joined and departed from the project. As of July 2014, the plant was managed by
Bujagali Energy Limited Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL) is a hydropower generating company in Uganda. The company owns and operates the Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest hydropower plant in the country as of July 2014. Overview BEL is a single purpose co ...
, which selected Italian contractor
Salini Impregilo Webuild S.p.A. (previously Salini Impregilo S.p.A.; ) is an Italian industrial group specialising in construction and civil engineering. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporation of Salini into Impregi ...
to develop the project.


Location

The power station lies across the Victoria Nile, about north-west of the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of the city of Jinja and immediately north of the former location of the Bujagali Falls. It is at the border between
Buikwe District Buikwe District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Buikwe, where the district headquarters are located. Location Buikwe District is bordered by Kayunga District to the north, Jinja District to ...
to the west and
Jinja District Jinja District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Jinja is the district's main municipal and commercial center. Location Jinja District is bordered by Kamuli District to the north, Luuka District to the east, Mayuge Di ...
to the east. The coordinates of Bujagali Power Station are 0° 29'54.00"N, 33° 08' 15.00"E (latitude:0.498325; longitude:33.137500).


History

As far back as 2001, the
government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...
started to plan the construction of a hydroelectric power plant at Bujagali Falls. The original developers included AES Energy from the United States and the
Madhvani Group The Madhvani Group of Companies commonly referred to as the Madhvani Group, is one of the largest conglomerate (company), conglomerates in Uganda. The group has investments in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Middle East, India, ...
from Uganda. In the midst of fraud investigations, the first project was abandoned in 2003 when AES Energy pulled out of the deal, citing a protracted process because of objections from environmentalists. The project was delayed due to protracted negotiations between investors and representatives of the Soga cult of the water spirit Budhagaali, whose main shrines were seen as inextricably linked to the strength of the waterfall. Ultimately agreement was reached between the parties. A new consortium, Bujagali Energy Limited, was created b
Sithe Global Power LLC
from the United States, and
Industrial Promotion Services Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) is the industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). AKFED is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network. Location IPS is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and has subsidiar ...
, a division of the
Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA is a Swiss for-profit entity and international development finance institution which invests in countries of East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. I ...
, and was tasked with developing the project. Construction of the dam and powerhouse started in June 2007. Salini Impregilo was selected to be the lead contractor. The power station began commercial operations on 1 August 2012. At the peak of construction activity, the project employed over 2,500 people, including about 2,200 Ugandan nationals.


Ownership

As of September 2016, the shareholders in Bujagali Energy Limited were as outlined in this reference. In May 2018, the
Daily Nation The ''Daily Nation'' is a Kenyan newspaper. It was founded in 1958 and is published in Nairobi. History The ''Daily Nation'' was started in the year 1958 as a Swahili weekly called ''Taifa'' by the Englishman Charles Hayes. It was bought in 1 ...
newspaper reported that
Jubilee Holdings Limited Jubilee Holdings Limited is a financial services holding company, with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The company maintains subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Mauritius. Its activities are mainly in the insurance sector. ...
was set to invest an additional KSh4.4 billion (US$44 million) in the business, in addition to the KSh5.5 billion (US$55 million) that it had already invested. In mid-2018, SN Power (today
Scatec Scatec ASA, formerly Scatec Solar ASA is a Norwegian company which specializes in renewable energy systems. The company was founded by Dr. Alf Bjørseth in 2007. The two major shareholders of the company arScatec Innovation ASand Equinor. In N ...
) of Norway acquired the shareholding previously owned by Sithe Global Power of the United States. The acquisition of that shareholding, held through an SPV called SG Bujagali Holdings Limited (SGBH), was completed by 1 August 2018. The ownership of the power station as of August 2018 is as illustrated in the table below.


Construction costs

The estimated costs for the dam and power plant was US$800 million. Another $62 million was spent on building a high voltage transmission line from Jinja to
Kawanda Kawanda is a town in Wakiso District, Central Uganda. Location The town is in Kawanda Parish, Nabweru Sub-county, being one of the six parishes in that administrative unit. Kawanda is approximately , by road, north of Kampala, the capital and ...
, near
Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...
, a distance of about . Bujagali Energy Limited invested approximately US$190 million of its own money into the project. The rest of the funds were borrowed from the following international lenders: #
International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...
(IFC), a member of the
World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...
#
African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...
#
European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
#
German Investment Corporation Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and a subsidiary of KfW Group. It was founded in Cologne in September 1962 as a federally owned company by the former Federal President Walter ...
#
KfW The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment and development bank, based in Frankfurt. As of 2014, it is the world's largest national ...
# PROPARCO of France #
French Development Agency The French Development Agency (, AFD), known from 1992 to 1998 as the Caisse Française de Développement (CFD, ), is a public financial institution that implements France's development and international solidarity policies. It works to fight pov ...
#
Netherlands Development Finance Company FMO () is a Dutch development bank structured as a bilateral private-sector international financial institution based in the Hague, the Netherlands. Among others, FMO manages funds for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs of th ...
#
Absa Group Limited Absa Group Limited, commonly known and stylized simply as absa (formerly the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) until 2005 and Barclays Africa Group Limited until 2018), is a multinational banking and financial services conglomerate ba ...
#
BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...
#
Nedbank Nedbank Group is a financial services group in South Africa offering wholesale and retail banking services as well as insurance, asset management, and wealth management. Nedbank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nedbank Group. Headquarter ...
#
Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...
In March 2018, the Board of Directors of IFC and
MIGA The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...
approved plans to refinance in excess of US$400 million in construction debt owed by Bujagali Energy Limited, the project SPV. The approval includes US$423 million in guarantees, in support of the project. The refinancing will extend the tenor of the existing loans made in 2007, by the lenders listed above. This, along with tax waivers from the Ugandan government, will lower the cost of electricity to the consumer and stimulate economic growth in the country, where only 26 percent of the population (8 percent in rural areas) had access to grid-electricity at that time.


Completion date

The project was completed in 2012, although partial power generation started in 2011. In April 2010, ''
The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since 7 November 1994, by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' also circulates in the other countries of the African Grea ...
'', a
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
n weekly publication, indicated that the opening of the dam would be phased, one unit at a time. On 2 February 2012, Ugandan newspapers reported the commissioning of the first turbine of the power station. In May 2012, the third 50-megawatt turbine was commissioned, bringing output to 150 megawatts. On 15 June 2012, Ugandan press reports indicated that the fourth and fifth turbines had come online, bringing total output to 250 megawatts. The plant officially began commercial operation on 1 August 2012. On 8 October 2012, the project was officially inaugurated by Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...
and
Aga Khan IV Prince Karim al-Husseini (13 December 1936 – 4 February 2025), known as the Aga Khan IV, was the 49th Imamah, imam of Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Nizari Isma'ilism from 1957 until his death in 2025. He inherited the Imamate in Nizari doctrine ...
in the presence of African politicians and investors.


The cost of power

As of October 2016, the dam's utilization rate was approximately 70 percent. The power generated cost the end-user about US$0.11/kilowatt-hour, which was the highest rate in the
East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, S ...
. In September 2016, the government of Uganda began negotiations with equity partners and lenders to restructure the financing of the dam to reduce the cost to the end-user to about US$0.072/kilowatt-hours.


See also

*
List of power stations in Uganda A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
Nalubaale Hydroelectric Power Station Nalubaale Power Station, formerly known as Owen Falls Dam, is a hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near its source at Lake Victoria in Uganda. ''Nalubaale'' is the Luganda name for Lake Victoria. Location The dam sits across the N ...


References


External links


Bujagali Energy Company Homepage

AKFED homepage

Sithe Global homepage

Bujagali Will Double Uganda's Electric Output
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Station Buikwe District Jinja District Energy infrastructure completed in 2012 Hydroelectric power stations in Uganda 2012 establishments in Uganda