By Iddi Wakibi
Uganda has launched construction of a Shs1.48 trillion transmission project designed to carry electricity from Karuma to eastern Uganda, strengthen supply to Greater Kampala and support regional power trade.
The Karuma–Tororo project will add approximately 346 kilometres of 400kV transmission lines and associated substations. Construction is expected to take 36 months.
Officials held the groundbreaking ceremony at Ntinda Substation in Kampala on October 22. The investment is intended to strengthen the network connecting Uganda’s electricity generation capacity to major consumption centres.
Energy and Mineral Development Minister Dr Monica Musenero said the project would support industrialisation, job creation and economic transformation.
She urged communities along the route to protect the infrastructure during construction and after completion, stressing the importance of safeguarding the investment.
The line will provide an additional transmission route for electricity from the 600-megawatt Karuma Hydropower Plant to a new substation near the Uganda–Kenya border in Tororo.
The wider project also includes a 132/33kV substation at Ntinda, intended to ease pressure on existing infrastructure serving Kampala.
Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited Board Chairperson Kwame Ejalu said the investment would improve supply to eastern Uganda and Greater Kampala while strengthening the country’s participation in regional electricity trade.
Sweden’s Ambassador to Uganda, Anna-Maria Olsson, said the project brought together financing, technical expertise and Uganda’s development ambitions.
“This project is testimony to what can be accomplished through partnership to overcome common challenges,” Olsson said.
She reaffirmed Sweden’s commitment to cooperation in renewable energy, technical capacity, grid infrastructure and project financing.
Kalpataru Power Transmission Sweden AB will undertake the works, financed through Standard Chartered Bank, with support from Swedish export-credit institutions.
For businesses, the project’s value will depend on translating additional transmission capacity into dependable power delivery. Implementing it will also require careful management of land acquisition, resettlement, and community safety along the route—issues identified in the project’s environmental and social assessment process.