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The Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program of the Nile Basin Initiative invites expressions of interest from consultants by 7 October to update the feasibility study report, detailed design and tender documents for the Uganda-Democratic Republic of Congo Power Interconnection Line Project.

Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL) has invited bids by 19 October to provide technical support for operations and maintenance of the Karuma and Isimba hydropower plants on the Victoria Nile. The 183MW Isimba plant, which is located in the Kamuli District in the Eastern Region, about 40km downstream of the 250MW Bujagali station, was fully commissioned in March 2019.

Upstream operator Total has signed a host government agreement (HGA) with Uganda for its proposed oil export pipeline project connecting Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s Tanga port. “We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the final investment decision [FID] in the coming months.

The African Union Commission has received 17 expressions of interest (EoIs) for the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility’s sixth application round. The EoIs, for projects in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, consisted of ten surface studies and seven drilling programmes, and were submitted by both private and public entities. Bid opening took place on 3 August.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a $12.5m loan for Engie subsidiary Fenix International to deploy 240,000 solar home systems in Uganda. According to Engie, the loan will result in 1.4m Ugandans gaining access to electricity.

An appeal hearing in a case brought by six NGOs against Total over its activities in Uganda has been adjourned until 28 October. The case is the first to be brought under France’s 2017 Corporate Duty of Vigilance law, and the NGOs hope to establish a precedent with wider implications for Total and other international companies. On 30 January, the Nanterre high court declined jurisdiction in favour of the commercial court. The NGOs’ appeal against this decision opened at the Versailles Court of Appeal on 24 June and was adjourned.

In comments underlining the gulf that still appears to exist between the government and its IOC partners, President Yoweri Museveni has played down the significance of oil to Uganda’s economic development, saying agriculture and industrial development were key to the country’s future and he had only agreed to an export pipeline to help out Tanzania. On 28 May, Tullow Oil said that CNOOC had opted not to exercise its pre-emption right on the sale of Tullow’s stake to Total, and a binding tax agreement with the government could now be progressed.

Kenya and Uganda were hit by nationwide power cuts early on 9 May, less than a month after Uganda suffered a nationwide blackout caused by debris blocking intakes at Nalubaale hydropower station. Kenya Power said engineers had identified a technical fault at a section of the main high- voltage transmission power line that evacuates power to Nairobi from the Olkaria geothermal complex.An electricity conductor came off its support insulators and crashed onto a tower near Kiambu town.

Tullow Oil and Total have signed a sale and purchase agreement for Tullow to transfer its interests in blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A and the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline for $575m in cash plus potential contingent payments after first oil. While the sale price is substantially lower than the previous $900m deal that collapsed in August 2019, it provides Tullow with badly needed upfront cash as the company struggles with a $2.8bn debt overhang.

Earth Energy Ltd is inviting expressions of interest from consultants for a front-end engineering design study for a 20MW biomass project in Gulu. The contract is funded by a grant from the African Development Bank-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa. The plant will use agricultural by-products such as rice husks, maize cobs and groundnut shells left over from crops by local farmers and processed within 150km of the site.

Uganda suffered a nationwide power outage on 14 April after a giant floating mass of vegetation blocked water intake screens at the Nalubaale hydropower station, putting the country’s three main power plants out of action. Eskom Uganda said the water weed island had been carried by rising water levels in Lake Victoria. Power was lost at the 380MW Kiira-Nalubaale complex, and at the 250MW Bujagali plant downstream.The outage meant a national broadcast by President Yoweri Museveni on the coronavirus crisis had to be delayed by an hour.

China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company signed a framework agreement on 17 February to develop 500MW of solar PV in Uganda. Parent company China Energy Engineering Corporation said in an announcement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the project would be developed in two phases under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) plus financing model, with Gezhouba International as the EPC contractor.

State-owned engineering and construction group PowerChina International Group Limited has applied for a licence to develop a 840MW hydropower plant on the Nile River that would expand Uganda’s installed power capacity by 40%. According to a licence application submitted this month, PowerChina wants to build the plant on a section of the Nile between lakes Kyoga and Albert in the north of the country.

Distribution company Umeme Ltd announced on 12 December that it has secured a $70m loan that will part-fund its capital expenditure for the next two years. The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation was lead arranger for the syndicated loan; participants included Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank and the Netherlands’ FMO. Umeme is investing in the expansion and reinforcement of its network to improve the quality and reliability of supply.

Oil minister Irene Muloni has said she expects the government to intervene to resolve a tax dispute that has prevented Tullow Oil selling part of its stakes in three Lake Albert licences. Speaking at a thinly attended London roadshow to promote Uganda’s second licensing round, she said it had not been possible to resolve the issue before the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) expired in late August. Total announced the expiry of the SPA on 29 August, saying the parties had been unable to reach agreement on the tax terms.