Capacity Building for Fast Tracking Geothermal Development in Uganda (2012-2050)

The peak demand on power generation capacity of Uganda for 2010 was about 550 MW. Electricity coverage in this period is 12% for the whole country and 6% for rural areas. It is evident that Uganda's population growth of 3.6 per annum is impacting negatively on the physical environment because of over dependence on biomass (over 90%) and fossil fuel for energy and electricity generation is lagging behind. In the short term, the construction of three large hydropower plants: Bujagali (250 MW), Karuma (750 MW) and Isimba (100 MW) including small Hydro's will certainly alleviate the energy crisis in the country. The annual demand for electricity in the urban areas of Uganda however, is growing at about 8% per year and is expected to increase with the current rate of infrastructure development, industry, housing estates, and city growth. Besides, hydroelectricity sites are more or less concentrated in one area (along the River Nile) resulting in long transmission distances and high energy losses. Uncertainties of continued availability of hydropower exist arising from climatic fluctuations and as such, there is a need to diversify energy sources. Geothermal energy remains an environmentally friendly energy source that has to be developed through capacity building in Uganda. It is a clean and reliable source for production of electricity. Uganda does not have a long history of geothermal resource exploration. Existing know how on the geology, geophysics and other geothermal manifestations from its prospective areas along the Ugandan Rift is sparse and inconclusive. The country has also very few professionals to support geothermal energy development. This paper addresses the capacity building needed to fast track geothermal development in Uganda.