Events

Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company (UECCC) officially launched its Price Subsidy Program (Results Based Financing Facility) for Clean Energy Technologies on Thursday, 5th December 2024 at Kiboga district. The program is funded by The World Bank and Government of Uganda and addresses the affordability barrier associated with the upfront cost of acquiring Clean Energy Technologies by households and enterprises.

What this means is that Ugandans across the country will benefit from big price discounts on various eligible clean energy technologies.  Specifically, prices for off grid solar systems for lighting, charging and Productive Use of Energy (PUE) as well as Clean Cooking technologies have been discounted:

• Solar lantern prices will be discounted by 60% and the prices for Solar systems with two lights will be discounted by 50%,
• Clean cooking solution prices powered by solar, briquettes, ethanol, biogas and liquefied petroleum gas will be discounted by 30%-50% depending on the technology.
• Productive uses of energy equipment such as water pumping, irrigation, refrigeration and cooling, water heating and grain milling will have prices discounted by 60%.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the UECCC Managing Director, Roy Baguma said the Program aims to enhance access to electricity most especially in the rural and remote areas of Uganda. “We are committed to imploring every Ugandan to embrace the program and access clean, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy,” he said.

Baguma informed the guests that UECCC has so far partnered with sixty-seven (67) Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) that will use market-based approaches to deliver the price discounts to Ugandans and refugees. Speaking about the selection criteria used, Baguma said that the UECCC and World Bank pre-selection of companies ensures that only companies that supply quality products certified by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) can participate in the program. “The list of participating companies is expected to grow as more companies express interest to participate. The companies have been selected to ensure a wide geographical outreach across Uganda.  ESCOs that register sales in the remote areas of Uganda will also qualify for incentives” he said.

Baguma added that the only requirement to purchase the discounted products from the selected ESCOs will be a National Identification Card and ability to cover the discounted price. Households will be able to take their products home immediately. To ensure maximum publicity about the Program, UECCC intends to undertake countrywide regional sensitization and market awareness.

On her part, the Chief Guest and Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Dr. Canon Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu encouraged all the citizens of Uganda to embrace the Price Subsidy Program in order to acquire the subsidized renewable energy products (off-grid solar for lighting, clean cooking solutions and productive uses of energy). She added that this Program will equally contribute to the National Electrification Strategy of having 50% of Ugandans expected to be connected on-grid while 50% using off-grid solutions by 2030.

Note:

UECCC is the implementing Agency of the Financial Intermediation Component of the Electricity Access Scale Up Project funded by the World Bank and the Government of Uganda. The Price Subsidy Program (Results Based Facility) is one of the programs under the Financial Intermediation Component. More information on this is available on our website https://www.ueccc.or.ug/

Related Stories:

Government launches Results-Based Financing Programme to support clean energy adoption and access

https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/news/over-13-million-ugandans-now-accessing-clean-NV_200991

Lilian Rebeccah Akullo

Communications Specialist

The final version of the Prospect digital platform has been unveiled for the Results Based Financing Program under the Electricity Access Scale Up Project. This was during a three-day training and evaluation workshop on Prospect for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) at Silver Springs Hotel, Kampala.

To enable transparency and quick verification of sales and connections, the World Bank supported UECCC to partner with A2EI to develop Prospect digital platform. The platform will facilitate real time reporting of ESCOs sales, digital submission of claims, processing, verification and payments by UECCC to ESCOs.

In his opening remarks, UECCC Managing Director, Roy Nyamutale Baguma congratulated the participants on their accreditation and clearance to participate in the Results Based Financing program as implementation now takes shape. He further stated that, “Grant agreements have been cleared by the Solicitor General which means that ESCOs will sign off in October, and sales of eligible products will begin in November 2024”.

He further added that this price subsidy program will increase access to energy at household level and enterprises nationwide including refugee settlements and Refugee Host Districts.

The Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company (UECCC) mobilized a grant of Euros 13.1 million from Invest International on behalf of the Government of the Netherlands  towards development of the ORIO mini hydro project for rural electrification.

The ORIO mini hydro power project entails construction of nine (09) mini hydro power plants (combined capacity of 6.7 MW) and construction of a local distribution network (288 KM) in the project area as well as connecting up-to 71,081 households and 2,300 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the project area (Kasese, Bushenyi, Mitooma, Hoima, Kabarole, Bunyangabu and Bundibugyo Districts) as a single project.

The small plants provide a captive, stable and reliable source of power for rural electrification in the project area, which mitigates the challenges of wheeling power over long distances. The basis for selecting the project sites was high social return in terms of rural electrification and not commercial viability.

The project is co-financed by the ORIO infrastructure program from Invest International, the state-owned funding organisation of the Dutch Government.

UECCC has procured two contractors to implement the project. HNAC Technology Co. Ltd from the People’s Republic of China will implement the Civil and Hydro-mechanical works and Ossberger GmbH from Germany will design, manufacture, supply and install the Electro-mechanical works of the Project.

On Wednesday 7th August 2024, UECCC signed the Civil and Hydromechanical Works Contract with HNAC Technology Co. Ltd of the People’s Republic of China. The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) and UECCC Board Member–Eng. Irene Bateebe and the Acting Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – Mr. Joost van Ettro presided over the signing ceremony held at UECCC offices.

HNAC Technology Co. Ltd is a large, listed group company in China that provides overall solutions for electric power generation, water conservancy, and environmental protection. HNAC has thirty (30) years of project implementation experience, with comprehensive service capabilities such as survey and design, electromechanical and hydro mechanical equipment manufacturing, hydropower project implementation, intelligent operation and maintenance, and investment and financing.