development and is usually backed by the diesel
gensets. The unit costs of RE power generation relatively competes favorably with that of the national
grid whose cost reflections per kWh are $0.2, $0.18
and $0.16 for the residential, commercial and large
industrial customers respectively (ERA, 2018). The
opportunity presented in the country of the use of
blended tariffs for the MGs (Table 3) provides good
prospects for advancing these developments.
It is worth noting however that the current MG tariffs are still lower than those from diesel generated
electricity i.e. $3 per day (Lane et al., 2018).
Now that MGs exist, a few cases have been discussed in brevity in order to highlight some key lessons
that serve as useful benchmarks moving forward with
a further analysis in section six discussed further on.
4.4.1 Kyamugarura and Kanyegaramire
These solar PV MGs were set up as part of the energy
for Development (e4D) program in collaboration with
the Uganda Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to act
as an informative benchmark on how best to implement
sustainable energy driven MGs to the target areas for
socio-economic development (Bahaj & James, 2019;
Nygaard et al., 2018). The setup of the two MGs is akin
to each other with the power plant components accommodated in shipping containers. These MGs boast of
customer bases inclusive of schools, businesses, health
centers and households. The use of prepaid special
card readers at the onset solved the problem of physical fees collection where upon paying for several units
of energy, the card is then inserted in the consumer’s
meter to power up the their premise. This also provided
additional security to the power supply. Both sized to
deliver 28kWh/day, the maximum demand capacity
was exceeded 30 months after commissioning due to
the grid price equivalent tariff which usually led to
power outages at night in order to suit the designed
70% depth of discharge of the battery (Bahaj & James,
2019).
4.4.2 Kisiizi Hydro
The Kisiizi MG is a fully owned subsidiary of Kisiizi Hospital that is governed by the Church of Uganda
(KHPL, 2014). Generated power is used by the hospital
and its conglomerates while the excess is sold to the
surrounding school, polytechnic, trading center and
homes. Initially, power generation was meant to cover
only the now 60-bed hospital and its affiliated institutions with the surplus being sold to its wider Kisiizi
community. However, the demand of power usage
continued to soar even with the incorporation of the
294kVA Ossberger crossflow in 2009 meant to supplement the existing 60kVA Gilkes Turgo (KHPL, 2014).
The number of electricity connections was 372 by 2013
but due to capacity constraints, this MG can no longer
handle new customers. In the event of dry seasons and
failures from the turbines, the system is backed by a
80kVA standby diesel generator (KHPL, 2018).
4.4.3 Kabunyata
Through the Anchor, Business and Community (ABC)
model, this solar PV MG was constructed with the
support of GIZ and Kirchner Solar Uganda Limited
that is a subsidiary of Kirchner Solar. The MG has an
installed capacity of 22.5 kW comprised of 48 high
performance solar PV modules with a yearly generation of 22MWh (Nygaard et al., 2018). With the rapidly
increasing demand for telecommunication services in
rural Uganda, this provides great motivation for service providers to develop sustainable and green power
base transceiver stations. This operational model was
one of the pilot studies carried out by GIZ where electricity was supplied to both the local households and
the telecom tower in Kabunyata village (Fraatz, 2013).
This has accrued dual benefits to the beneficiaries
where the telecom company (Airtel) has realized a
40% reduction in the costs of fuel utilized in powering
the existing diesel genset while boosting the network
coverage to the surrounding areas. Moreover, the local
economy has also been promoted through increasing household incomes, powering ten Small Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) and two institutions where consumption is metered through a prepaid system (Kurz,
2014).
4.4.4 Kitobo MG
Kitobo Island constitutes one of the 84 islands of
Ssese archipelago where fishing is the predominant
economic activity. Commissioned in 2016, this solar
MG provides electricity to over 600 rural households
through 880 PV panels each with nominal power of
260Wp which are backed up by an 80kVA diesel genset
(Barelli et al., 2019). This solar – diesel hybrid powered system is a typical off-grid type and comprises
of off-grid inverters whose frequency modulation is
characteristic of its loads (ERA, 2019). Subsequently,
productive energy use in the local fish value chain
through flake ice making was revamped and as a result
reduced the gap between supply of ice for refrigeration, increased product (fish) shelf life and profits of
the rural fishermen. Collectively, this has catalyzed
economic development through the creation of other
employment opportunities as opposed to the previous
use of a private diesel generator that was characterized with high diesel expenses where only 30 villagers
were connected (Barelli et al., 2019). The provision
of sustainable energy services to the community has
ultimately promoted their livelihoods.
4.4.5 Ssekanyonyi MG
Developed by Pamoja Energy Limited under the initiative of using agricultural residues as sources of energy,
the 32kW e project utilized downdraft gasification of
maize cobs to produce syngas to run the generator.
However, to date, this plant is not operational due to
project failure in reaching commercial parity as the
system was oversized whilst in the preliminary stages
with consideration of the neighboring mill as an anchor
load which was never actualized. Worse still, the use
of un-chopped cobs also hindered the reactors from
250
gensets. The unit costs of RE power generation relatively competes favorably with that of the national
grid whose cost reflections per kWh are $0.2, $0.18
and $0.16 for the residential, commercial and large
industrial customers respectively (ERA, 2018). The
opportunity presented in the country of the use of
blended tariffs for the MGs (Table 3) provides good
prospects for advancing these developments.
It is worth noting however that the current MG tariffs are still lower than those from diesel generated
electricity i.e. $3 per day (Lane et al., 2018).
Now that MGs exist, a few cases have been discussed in brevity in order to highlight some key lessons
that serve as useful benchmarks moving forward with
a further analysis in section six discussed further on.
4.4.1 Kyamugarura and Kanyegaramire
These solar PV MGs were set up as part of the energy
for Development (e4D) program in collaboration with
the Uganda Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to act
as an informative benchmark on how best to implement
sustainable energy driven MGs to the target areas for
socio-economic development (Bahaj & James, 2019;
Nygaard et al., 2018). The setup of the two MGs is akin
to each other with the power plant components accommodated in shipping containers. These MGs boast of
customer bases inclusive of schools, businesses, health
centers and households. The use of prepaid special
card readers at the onset solved the problem of physical fees collection where upon paying for several units
of energy, the card is then inserted in the consumer’s
meter to power up the their premise. This also provided
additional security to the power supply. Both sized to
deliver 28kWh/day, the maximum demand capacity
was exceeded 30 months after commissioning due to
the grid price equivalent tariff which usually led to
power outages at night in order to suit the designed
70% depth of discharge of the battery (Bahaj & James,
2019).
4.4.2 Kisiizi Hydro
The Kisiizi MG is a fully owned subsidiary of Kisiizi Hospital that is governed by the Church of Uganda
(KHPL, 2014). Generated power is used by the hospital
and its conglomerates while the excess is sold to the
surrounding school, polytechnic, trading center and
homes. Initially, power generation was meant to cover
only the now 60-bed hospital and its affiliated institutions with the surplus being sold to its wider Kisiizi
community. However, the demand of power usage
continued to soar even with the incorporation of the
294kVA Ossberger crossflow in 2009 meant to supplement the existing 60kVA Gilkes Turgo (KHPL, 2014).
The number of electricity connections was 372 by 2013
but due to capacity constraints, this MG can no longer
handle new customers. In the event of dry seasons and
failures from the turbines, the system is backed by a
80kVA standby diesel generator (KHPL, 2018).
4.4.3 Kabunyata
Through the Anchor, Business and Community (ABC)
model, this solar PV MG was constructed with the
support of GIZ and Kirchner Solar Uganda Limited
that is a subsidiary of Kirchner Solar. The MG has an
installed capacity of 22.5 kW comprised of 48 high
performance solar PV modules with a yearly generation of 22MWh (Nygaard et al., 2018). With the rapidly
increasing demand for telecommunication services in
rural Uganda, this provides great motivation for service providers to develop sustainable and green power
base transceiver stations. This operational model was
one of the pilot studies carried out by GIZ where electricity was supplied to both the local households and
the telecom tower in Kabunyata village (Fraatz, 2013).
This has accrued dual benefits to the beneficiaries
where the telecom company (Airtel) has realized a
40% reduction in the costs of fuel utilized in powering
the existing diesel genset while boosting the network
coverage to the surrounding areas. Moreover, the local
economy has also been promoted through increasing household incomes, powering ten Small Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) and two institutions where consumption is metered through a prepaid system (Kurz,
2014).
4.4.4 Kitobo MG
Kitobo Island constitutes one of the 84 islands of
Ssese archipelago where fishing is the predominant
economic activity. Commissioned in 2016, this solar
MG provides electricity to over 600 rural households
through 880 PV panels each with nominal power of
260Wp which are backed up by an 80kVA diesel genset
(Barelli et al., 2019). This solar – diesel hybrid powered system is a typical off-grid type and comprises
of off-grid inverters whose frequency modulation is
characteristic of its loads (ERA, 2019). Subsequently,
productive energy use in the local fish value chain
through flake ice making was revamped and as a result
reduced the gap between supply of ice for refrigeration, increased product (fish) shelf life and profits of
the rural fishermen. Collectively, this has catalyzed
economic development through the creation of other
employment opportunities as opposed to the previous
use of a private diesel generator that was characterized with high diesel expenses where only 30 villagers
were connected (Barelli et al., 2019). The provision
of sustainable energy services to the community has
ultimately promoted their livelihoods.
4.4.5 Ssekanyonyi MG
Developed by Pamoja Energy Limited under the initiative of using agricultural residues as sources of energy,
the 32kW e project utilized downdraft gasification of
maize cobs to produce syngas to run the generator.
However, to date, this plant is not operational due to
project failure in reaching commercial parity as the
system was oversized whilst in the preliminary stages
with consideration of the neighboring mill as an anchor
load which was never actualized. Worse still, the use
of un-chopped cobs also hindered the reactors from
250