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Uganda Energy
In the 1980s, local officials estimated that charcoal
and
fuel wood met more than 95 percent of Uganda's total
energy
requirements. These two materials produced 75 percent of
the
nation's commercial energy, and petroleum products, 21
percent;
electricity provided only 3 percent of commercial energy.
By the
late 1980s, the government sought alternate energy sources
to
reduce the nation's reliance on forestry resources for
fuelwood.
Alternative technologies were sought for the
tobacco-curing and
brick and tile manufacturing industries, in particular,
because
they both consumed substantial quantities of fuelwood.
More than
80 percent of fuelwood consumption was still in the home--
primarily for cooking--and to reduce this dependence, the
government attempted to promote the manufacture and use of
more
fuel-efficient stoves. Even this modest effort was
difficult and
expensive to implement on a nationwide basis, in part
because
cooking methods were established by long-standing
tradition.
Managing the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) was
increasingly
difficult during the 1980s. Factors contributing to this
problem
included increased UEB operating costs and shortages of
spare
parts, especially conductors and transformers that had
been
destroyed by vandals during the war years. Supply lines
were
often vandalized, and oil was even drained from UEB
equipment.
Despite these problems, the UEB maintained the existing
supply
system and supplied electricity to a few new coffee
factories and
corn mills in the late 1980s. The demand for new
connections
increased, largely as a result of escalating prices of
other
energy sources, such as kerosene and charcoal. Electricity
consumption rose by 21 percent in 1987 despite the upward
adjustment of tariffs by 536 percent.
Power generation at Owen Falls dropped from 635.5
million
kilowatt-hours in 1986 to 609.9 million kilowatt-hours in
1987.
By November 1988, six of the station's ten generators had
broken
down. Officials hoped that the rehabilitation of Maziba
Hydroelectric Power Station at Kabale and the Mubuku Power
Scheme
at Kasese would ease the pressure on the Owen Falls
facilities.
As of 1989, planners expected the power generated at the
country's existing power station at Owen Falls to be fully
used
by 1995, so the government rushed to begin a six-year
construction project to build a 480-megawatt capacity
hydroelectric power station near Murchison (Kabalega)
Falls on
the Nile River. Officials hoped the new station would meet
Uganda's electric power needs up to the year 2020.
Environmentalists protested that this project would
disrupt the
ecosystem of nearby Murchison (Kabalega) National Game
Park (one
of Uganda's prime tourist attractions), and the government
agreed
to move the power station two kilometers upstream in
response to
these complaints.
In the 1980s Uganda imported all its petroleum
products. The
transportation sector consumed about 69 percent of the
available
supply, while the aviation and industrial sectors required
9
percent and 5 percent, respectively. Roughly 17 percent of
Uganda's petroleum imports were for domestic use. Uganda
relied
on Kenyan road and rail systems to transport oil imports.
When
political relations with Kenya worsened in the 1970s, the
government tried to expand the country's strategic
petroleum
product reserves by rehabilitating existing storage
facilities
and constructing new ones. By late 1989, new tanks at
Jinja and
Nakasongola were expected to provide a six-month oil
supply
cushion. Officials also changed procurement procedures for
oil
from an open general licensing system to the use of
letters of
credit. An oil board was to be established to import and
store
petroleum products and to supervise their distribution.
Several international companies were also exploring for
oil
in western Uganda in 1989. A consortium of four oil
companies--
Shell, Exxon, Petrofina, and Total--had tendered bids for
test
drilling to determine if commercial quantities of oil were
present. The World Bank provided US$5.2 million to
purchase
equipment and train Ugandans in drilling procedures. The
major
areas marked for test drilling were in Masindi, Hoima,
Bundibugyo, and Kabarole. Test blocks were also set aside
in the
southwestern district of Kigezi and portions of Arua and
Nebbi
districts in the northwest.
In 1989, however, several of these companies appeared
to be
losing interest in Ugandan oil prospects. Shell withdrew
from the
consortium, leaving Petrofina operating most oil rigs and
Exxon
and Total providing most financial backing. Among the
reasons for
the declining international interest were the slump in
crude oil
prices worldwide and the high cost of exploring in the
relatively
remote western region of Uganda. Moreover, uncertain
political
relations between Uganda and Kenya suggested that
prospects for
building a trans-Kenya pipeline were becoming more remote,
and
shipping oil through Tanzania promised to be too costly.
Data as of December 1990
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