TotalEnergies & Winch Energy to produce 1GW of green energy in Uganda

French energy giant, TotalEnergies, has launched a plan to produce renewable energy in Uganda with a planned capacity of 1000 megawatts by 2030. The company is partnering with Winch Energy Ltd, a leading developer of off-grid energy systems in Africa on the initiative. 

The two companies will develop projects in solar, wind and other forms of green energy. TotalEnergies recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Uganda to give regulatory and other forms of support for the projects.  

Uganda currently has an installed power generation capacity of 850 megawatts and electrification rate of only 26 per cent through grid access. A significant number of Ugandans are connected to off-grid solar energy and home solar systems, taking the total percentage of people with access to electricity to 56%. 

The projects by TotalEnergies and Winch Energy will help the country improve its electrification rate. Uganda’s Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Irene Batebe, celebrated the initiative saying the projects will help accelerate Uganda’s renewable energy transition.

Uganda is richly endowed with an abundance of renewable energy resources, which are fairly distributed throughout the country, but lack of investment is stifling the country’s power generation potential. The country has significant electricity generation potential from hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal energy sources. 

The East African country is also looking to improve electrification through quickly deployable solar mini-grid systems. According to Uganda’s National Development Plan III, the country aims to have 1,500 mini-grids installed in the next five years, rising to 2,700 mini-grids by 2030. Much of these targets the government hopes will be realised through private sector investments into its mini-grids programmes.