Uganda launch tender to study the prospects of floating solar

The Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd is inviting consultants to study the country’s prospects for floating solar photovoltaic projects through a tender launched last week. The state owned utility received grant support from Swedfund to be used for the analytical studies to assess the prospects for floating solar power generation in Uganda. 

Uganda generates much of its electricity from hydropower which is sometimes susceptible to climate change disruption during times of drought. The combination of hydropower and solar pv is expected to help reduce the power supply disruptions in the country.

Despite a massive solar energy potential, the East African landlocked country has very little installed solar energy capacity. Uganda currently has 850 Megawatts (MW) of installed power generation capacity. Hydropower makes up more than 92% of the country’s installed capacity, whilst thermal coal and solar makes up the rest of the capacity.

Uganda’s vast water resources make it ideal for floating solar energy projects. The country’s significant water bodies include Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga, Lake Albert, Lake George, and Lake Edward. 

Why Uganda could benefit from floating solar

One of the advantages of floating solar is that it doesn’t take up valuable space on land. This means Uganda can use its land for other uses like agriculture and infrastructure. Another benefit is that bodies of water exert a cooling effect, which improves the performance of solar photovoltaic panels by 5–10 percent.

Other potential benefits for Uganda include reduced shading, reduced civil works, reduced grid interconnection costs, reduced water evaporation, improved water quality, and reduced algal blooming.