UAE-based renewable power developer AMEA Power has started construction at the 24MW Ituka solar PV project in Uganda, which will be the largest in the region upon its completion.
An AMEA Power subsidiary, Ituka West Nile Uganda Limited, will build and manage the project, from which power will be sold to the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company, which is building a new transmission line to connect the project to the country’s electricity grid.
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Funding for the project came from the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), which has sought to connect finance to project developers in Africa since 2001, and has helped raise over US$2.1 billion in investments for 96 projects. The arrangement was finalised during the COP28 conference in Dubai last year, and will be supported by the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) project through its Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF).
“We are excited to begin construction on this landmark solar project in Uganda, marking a significant step forward in our commitment to expanding our footprint across East Africa,” said AMEA Power chairman Hussain Al Nowais. “This project aligns perfectly with Uganda’s vision for a cleaner and more sustainable energy future, and we are confident that it will deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits for the country”.
AMEA Power expects to commission the Ituka solar project in the third quarter of 2025, and will be the first utility-scale solar project to reach commercial operation in the West Nile region of north-west Uganda.
The project is also the latest to receive support from organisations such as EAIF and ATIDI. Last year, the EAIF supported the development of a 40MW solar project in Kenya, and in 2019, provided a US$27 million loan to the Kikagati Power Company to build a new hydropower dam on the Kagera River, benefitting both Uganda and Tanzania. In June this year, ATIDI and Globeleq Africa announced plans to develop a 35MW geothermal project in Kenya.
Uganda has already made a number of investments into its renewable energy sector, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) reporting that renewable power generation currently accounts for 99% of its energy grid. The China Energy Engineering Corporation announced plans to build 500MW of new solar capacity in Uganda in 2020, but the projects have not come to fruition.
In addition, much of Uganda’s energy demand is not met with the electricity sector – the IEA also notes that biomass and charcoal burning accounts for around 90% of the country’s final energy consumption – and expanding the scope of the Ugandan electricity sector will be crucial in the long-term.
