
TotalEnergies has submitted two notices to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) over its intention to generate and sell a combined amount of 40MW of electricity from two different solar projects in Iganga and Tororo districts.
The applications represent the latest moves by TotalEnergies, the biggest international oil major operating in Uganda, to transit to a fully-fledged energy company from the widely-known oil and gas profile that it carries.
The French oil major, the operator of the Tilenga Oil area, has come under attack from climate activists over its role in leading the development of the longest heated underground crude oil pipeline in the world, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The activists say the proposed oil pipeline, a 1,445km project between Hoima in western Uganda and Tanga in southern Tanzania, will emit toxic fumes in the environment and make an already bad situation worse. TotalEnergies say these allegations from the activists are baseless and unfounded.
The applications to ERA come just over two years – November 2022 – after TotalEnergies signed its first solar project agreement with the government of Uganda to put up 120MW of solar power. At the signing ceremony, government proposed six sites, where the French company would put up 20MW of solar power at each site. The sites are: Iganga, Kumi, Kapeeka, Tororo, Paliisa and Bukedea.
In Iganga, TotalEnergies says the proposed site is at Bukoyo village, while in Tororo in Utro A village.
ERA is now calling on the public to make comments over the proposals to put up solar power projects in Iganga and Tororo. The deadline for making comments has been set at the end of January 2025.
Uganda has an installed capacity of 88.3MW of solar electricity. That is just four per cent of the overall electricity produced in the country, the lowest component in the energy mix.
Uganda is looking to expand its solar PV capacity to 7,500MW by the year 2030, according to the country’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) which was launched in Dubai in late 2023. The plan wants the solar capacity to shoot up to 45,000MW by 2050, by all accounts an ambitious target.