Uganda microgrids for rural electrification

How will a mini-grid interact with the central grid in Uganda?

There are no clear rules in Uganda for how a mini-grid is to interact with the central grid in the future when the main grid gets built out to where a mini-grid is located. However, developers recognize that the grid is unlikely ever to get connected to where they have been operating on Lake Victoria.

Are mini-grids economically viable in Uganda?

In addition, given that the average off-grid village in Uganda is rather small (often below 200 households), productive uses of electricity (PUE) are also a prerequisite for mini-grids to be economically viable. There are two types of PUEs.

How many mini-grids are there in Uganda?

Uganda has 34 installed mini-grids that serve ap-proximately 20,000 households. That’s less than 1 percent of the 7.3 million households in the country. Solar and hydro make up the vast majority of proj-ects in Uganda – 40 percent and 34 percent re-spectively (Figure 100).

Who regulates mini-grids in Uganda?

UEDCL also runs a small number of mini-grids (Anton Eberhard, 2016). The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) is the primary regulator of Uganda’s mini-grids. It admin-isters licence approval, sets tariffs and maintains technical standards. The REA has no direct regu-latory authority over mini-grids, but ERA consults Source: BloombergNEF.

How mature is Uganda's renewable-hybrid mini-grid market?

Uganda’s renewable-hybrid mini-grid market is less mature than those in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania both in terms of the number of projects completed and the number of players operating. Uganda has 34 installed mini-grids that serve ap-proximately 20,000 households. That’s less than 1 percent of the 7.3 million households in the country.

What is the Ugandan mini-grid framework?

This case study describes the development of the mini-grid framework in Uganda in recent years. The Ugandan framework is particularly interesting because it integrates several of the main building blocks of mini-grid development, such as planning, financing, licensing and procurement, under a single process and facilitates multi-site development.