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Tuesday, 1 March 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
In a landmark achievement for local engineering, a Sri Lanka led international consortium has completed the construction of the largest grid connected small-hydro power project yet to be developed in Uganda.
The 18 MW run-of-the-river plant was technically commissioned on 10 February by the Minister for Energy in the presence of several other dignitaries.
The project harnesses the hydro potential of the Mpanga River as it flows down the Great Western Rift Valley onto Lake George in Fort Portal, western Uganda. It cost US$ 26 million and took 24 months to complete.
Despite being implemented in difficult terrain inside a deep gorge, the Mpanga project not only represents the lowest cost to capacity hydropower project in Uganda but also the fastest in completion time from licensing to commissioning.
The Mpanga project is owned by Africa EMS Uganda, a member of the South Asia Energy Management Systems group (SAEMS) based in California, USA. SAEMS is a major investor in Sri Lanka’s hydro power sector with over 60 MW of capacity installed or under construction. The company has been present in Sri Lanka since 2005 and owns some of the largest hydro power projects in operation.
The Mpanga project has been driven by Sri Lankan engineering expertise. Design and construction was undertaken by VS Hydro, a pioneering hydropower development company while the three 6 MW Francis type water turbines were manufactured in Sri Lanka by VS Turbo, another pioneering venture.
Both companies are members of the Vidya Silpa Group, which was promoted by Premasiri Sumanasekera, Sri Lanka’s first private sector mini hydro power developer and now owned and run by his family.
DFCC Bank is the principal project financier for the VS Group and DFCC Consulting carried out the initial financial feasibility and planning for the project. FMO (the Netherlands Development Finance Company) provided the debt financing while DEG (the German Investment Corporation) and Finnfund (the Finnish Development Finance Company) were co-financiers.
Environment Management (based in Sri Lanka) was the environmental consultant while PB Engineering, a global consultancy giant originating from the UK was the independent engineering consultant.
This project is arguably the largest engineering endeavour successfully undertaken by a Sri Lankan firm on foreign soil to-date.
