(Bloomberg) -- Uganda commissioned the Karuma Hydropower Station after a six-year delay blamed on vandalism of transmission lines and obstacles in land acquisition.
Construction for the dam, which can generate 600 megawatts of electricity, started in 2013. President Yoweri Museveni attended the proceedings on Thursday. Exim Bank of China funded 85% of the $1.7 billion project, according to Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa. The dam at Kiryandongo is more than 220 kilometers (137 miles) north of capital, Kampala.
Uganda plans a massive boost to its electricity generation capacity by 2040 to spur economic growth. Hydro topped new capacity additions in Angola, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda, which together added more than 1.3 gigawatt in 2023, according to BloombergNEF.
The dam was built by China’s Sinohydro Corp.
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