30-567: The Bujagali Power Station is a hydroelectric power station across the Victoria Nile that harnesses the energy of its namesake, the Bujagali Falls , in Uganda . Construction began in 2007 and concluded in 2012. It was officially inaugurated on 8 October 2012 by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Aga Khan IV in the presence of African politicians and investors. The 250-megawatt power station
60-537: A Kenyan weekly publication, indicated that the opening of the dam would be phased, one unit at a time. On 2 February 2012, Ugandan newspapers reported the commissioning of the first turbine of the power station. In May 2012, the third 50-megawatt turbine was commissioned, bringing output to 150 megawatts. On 15 June 2012, Ugandan press reports indicated that the fourth and fifth turbines had come online, bringing total output to 250 megawatts. The plant officially began commercial operation on 1 August 2012. On 8 October 2012,
90-523: A distance of about 80 kilometres (50 mi). Bujagali Energy Limited invested approximately US$ 190 million of its own money into the project. The rest of the funds were borrowed from the following international lenders: In March 2018, the Board of Directors of IFC and MIGA approved plans to refinance in excess of US$ 400 million in construction debt owed by Bujagali Energy Limited, the project SPV. The approval includes US$ 423 million in guarantees, in support of
120-530: A division of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development , and was tasked with developing the project. Construction of the dam and powerhouse started in June 2007. Salini Impregilo was selected to be the lead contractor. The power station began commercial operations on 1 August 2012. At the peak of construction activity, the project employed over 2,500 people, including about 2,200 Ugandan nationals. As of September 2016,
150-539: A newspaper's establishment with readers, advertisers, and distributors. Its name originated with Lough's suggestion: with "EastAfrican" signifying unity and the omission of "nation", an appeal to a transnational audience. As such, staffers were hired, and the publication set up in Kampala, Arusha, and Dar es Saleem. John Githongo and Charles Onyango-Obbo were recruited and operated in Kenya and Kampala, respectively. The first issue
180-504: A pale color. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No , at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal Rivers. In the wider sense, "White Nile" refers to all the stretches of river draining from Lake Victoria through to the merger with the Blue Nile: the "Victoria Nile" from Lake Victoria via Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert , then the "Albert Nile" to
210-647: A smaller 200-megawatt power plant, but Uganda opted for a larger project, which the Ugandans will fund internally if necessary. Just before entering Lake Albert, the river is compressed into a passage just seven meters wide at Murchison Falls , marking its entry into the western branch of the East African Rift . The river then flows into Lake Albert opposite the Blue Mountains in the Democratic Republic of
240-525: The Bujagali Power Station ) about 15 km (9.3 mi) downstream from Jinja. The river then flows northwest through Uganda to Lake Kyoga in the centre of the country, thence west to Lake Albert. At Karuma Falls , the river flows under Karuma Bridge ( 2°14′45.40″N 32°15′9.05″E / 2.2459444°N 32.2525139°E / 2.2459444; 32.2525139 ) at the southeastern corner of Murchison Falls National Park . During much of
270-686: The South Sudan border, and then the "Mountain Nile" or "Bahr-al-Jabal" down to Lake No. "White Nile" may sometimes include the headwaters of Lake Victoria, the most remote of which being 3,700 km (2,300 mi) from the Blue Nile. The 19th-century search by Europeans for the source of the Nile was mainly focused on the White Nile, which disappeared into the depths of what was then known as "Darkest Africa". The Kagera River , which flows into Lake Victoria near
300-532: The government of Uganda started to plan the construction of a hydroelectric power plant at Bujagali Falls. The original developers included AES Energy from the United States and the Madhvani Group from Uganda. In the midst of fraud investigations, the first project was abandoned in 2003 when AES Energy pulled out of the deal, citing a protracted process because of objections from environmentalists. The project
330-617: The Congo . The stretch of river from Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert is sometimes called the "Kyoga Nile". The river draining from Lake Albert to the north is called the "Albert Nile". It separates the West Nile sub-region of Uganda from the rest of the country. A bridge passes over the Albert Nile near its inlet in Nebbi District , but no other bridge over this section has been built. A ferry connects
SECTION 10
#1732847939087360-599: The Lake Albert to Khartoum through Jebel Aulia Dam , only between Juba and Uganda requires the river upgrade or channel to make it navigable. During part of the year the rivers are navigable up to Gambela, Ethiopia , and Wau, South Sudan . The EastAfrican The EastAfrican is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since November 7, 1994, by the Nation Media Group , which also publishes Kenya's national Daily Nation . The EastAfrican also circulates in
390-822: The Tanzanian town of Bukoba , is the longest feeder river for Lake Victoria, although sources do not agree on which is the longest tributary of the Kagera, and hence the most distant source of the Nile . The source of the Nile can be considered to be either the Ruvyironza , which emerges in Bururi Province , Burundi (near Bukirasaz), or the Nyabarongo , which flows from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. These two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on
420-433: The United States. The acquisition of that shareholding, held through an SPV called SG Bujagali Holdings Limited (SGBH), was completed by 1 August 2018. The ownership of the power station as of August 2018 is as illustrated in the table below. The estimated costs for the dam and power plant was US$ 800 million. Another $ 62 million was spent on building a high voltage transmission line from Jinja to Kawanda , near Kampala ,
450-537: The Victoria Nile, about 15.5 kilometres (10 mi) north-west of the central business district of the city of Jinja and immediately north of the former location of the Bujagali Falls. It is at the border between Buikwe District to the west and Jinja District to the east. The coordinates of Bujagali Power Station are 0° 29'54.00"N, 33° 08' 15.00"E (latitude:0.498325; longitude:33.137500). As far back as 2001,
480-573: The White Nile starts at the confluence of the Mountain Nile with the Bahr el Ghazal at Lake No. The 120 kilometers of White Nile that flow east from Lake No to the mouth of the Sobat are very gently sloping and hold many swamps and lagoons. When in flood, the Sobat River tributary carries a large amount of sediment , adding greatly to the White Nile's pale color. From South Sudan's second city Malakal ,
510-650: The border between Rwanda and Tanzania. These waterfalls are known for an event on 28–29 April 1994, when 250,000 Rwandans crossed the bridge at Rusumo Falls into Ngara , Tanzania , in 24 hours, in what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called "the largest and fastest refugee exodus in modern times". The Kagera forms part of the Rwanda–Tanzania and Tanzania–Uganda borders before flowing into Lake Victoria. The White Nile in Uganda goes under
540-551: The border with Uganda, the river becomes known as the "Mountain Nile" or "Baḥr al-Jabal" (also "Baḥr el-Jebel", بحر الجبل ), literally Mountain River" or "River of the Mountain". The Southern Sudanese state of Central Equatoria through which the river flows was known as Bahr al-Jabal until 2006. The southern stretch of the river encounters several rapids before reaching the Sudan plain and
570-499: The financing of the dam to reduce the cost to the end-user to about US$ 0.072/kilowatt-hours. Victoria Nile The White Nile ( Arabic : النيل الأبيض an-nīl al-'abyaḍ ) is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile , the larger being the Blue Nile . The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to
600-515: The insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army , Karuma Bridge, built in 1963 to help the cotton industry, was the key stop on the way to Gulu , where vehicles gathered in convoys before being provided with a military escort for the final run north. In 2009, the government of Uganda announced plans to construct a 750-megawatt hydropower project several kilometres north of the bridge, which was scheduled for completion in 2016. The World Bank had approved funding
630-550: The name of "Victoria Nile" from Lake Victoria via Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert, and then as the "Albert Nile" from there to the border with South Sudan. The Victoria Nile starts at the outlet of Lake Victoria, at Jinja, Uganda , on the northern shore of the lake. Downstream from the Nalubaale Power Station and the Kiira Power Station at the outlet of the lake, the river goes over Bujagali Falls (the location of
SECTION 20
#1732847939087660-716: The other countries of the African Great Lakes region, including Tanzania , Uganda, and Rwanda . It contains stories and in-depth analysis from each country in the region, in addition to international stories. In 1993, the Nation Group's managing editor , Wangethi Mwangi , requested experienced British journalist Gerry Loughran to return to Kenya to establish a regional newspaper. Joined by future editor Joseph Odindo and future marketing manager Jerry Okungu , Loughran traveled to Nairobi , Mombasa , Kisumu , Kampala , Arusha , Dar es Salaam , and Zanzibar to discuss
690-530: The project was officially inaugurated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Aga Khan IV in the presence of African politicians and investors. As of October 2016, the dam's utilization rate was approximately 70 percent. The power generated cost the end-user about US$ 0.11/kilowatt-hour, which was the highest rate in the East African Community . In September 2016, the government of Uganda began negotiations with equity partners and lenders to restructure
720-558: The project. The refinancing will extend the tenor of the existing loans made in 2007, by the lenders listed above. This, along with tax waivers from the Ugandan government, will lower the cost of electricity to the consumer and stimulate economic growth in the country, where only 26 percent of the population (8 percent in rural areas) had access to grid-electricity at that time. The project was completed in 2012, although partial power generation started in 2011. In April 2010, The EastAfrican ,
750-555: The river runs slowly but swamp-free into Sudan and north to Khartoum. Downstream from Malakal lies Kodok , the site of the 1898 Fashoda Incident that marked an end to the Scramble for Africa . In Sudan the river lends its name to the Sudanese state of White Nile , before merging with the larger Blue Nile at Khartoum and forming the River Nile. The White Nile is a navigable waterway from
780-505: The roads between Adjumani and Moyo , and navigation of the river is otherwise done by small boat or canoe. From the point at which the river enters South Sudan from Uganda, the river goes under the name of "Mountain Nile". From Lake No in South Sudan the river becomes the "White Nile" in its strictest sense, and so continues northwards into Sudan where it ends at its confluence with the Blue Nile. From Nimule in South Sudan, close to
810-665: The shareholders in Bujagali Energy Limited were as outlined in this reference. In May 2018, the Daily Nation newspaper reported that Jubilee Holdings Limited was set to invest an additional KSh4.4 billion (US$ 44 million) in the business, in addition to the KSh5.5 billion (US$ 55 million) that it had already invested. In mid-2018, SN Power (today Scatec ) of Norway acquired the shareholding previously owned by Sithe Global Power of
840-548: The vast swamp of the Sudd . It makes its way to Lake No, where it merges with the Bahr el Ghazal and there forms the White Nile. An anabranch river called Bahr el Zeraf flows out of the Bahr al-Jabal at and flows through the Sudd, to eventually join the White Nile. The Mountain Nile cascades through narrow gorges and over a series of rapids that includes the Fula (Fola) Rapids. To some people,
870-522: Was delayed due to protracted negotiations between investors and representatives of the Soga cult of the water spirit Budhagaali, whose main shrines were seen as inextricably linked to the strength of the waterfall. Ultimately agreement was reached between the parties. A new consortium, Bujagali Energy Limited, was created by Sithe Global Power LLC , from the United States, and Industrial Promotion Services ,
900-440: Was the largest hydroelectric energy source in Uganda when it was commissioned. However, the planned Karuma and Ayago power stations would be larger. The funding for the station was a source of some concern, as investors joined and departed from the project. As of July 2014, the plant was managed by Bujagali Energy Limited , which selected Italian contractor Salini Impregilo to develop the project. The power station lies across
#86913