Renewable based distributed generation in Uganda: Resource potential and status of exploitation
Loading...
Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Abstract
Uganda is gifted by nature with abundant energy resources, mainly renewables, which can potentially
provide the country with sufficient capacity to meet future growth in energy demand. Surprisingly,
Uganda has one of the lowest electricity penetration levels, with only 9–12% of the total population
having electricity access;2–3% of them living in rural communities. There is multitude of challenges
facing the energy sector of Uganda, forcing energy demand to always exceed the supply. For decades,
hydro power has been and is still the base electricity supply of the country with a supplement of limited
biomass, diesel based thermal and solar electricity. The objective of this paper is to review the potential
and progress of renewable based distributed generation in Uganda. The potential of the country’s natural
renewable resources and existing distributed generation is described and existing government policies
are assessed.The challenges facing the energy sector and the suggested remedies are discussed.Various
distributed generation systems that could be incorporated into the energy system of the country to
improve renewable energy(RE) utilization and possibly contribute to the electricity needs of the
population are also proposed and discussed. Exploitation of abundant RE resources through distributed
energy generation around the region will not only improve the electricity needs of the country but also
increase the economic welfare of the growing population.
Description
Keywords
Solar, Hydro, Wind, Biomass
Citation
Twaha, S., Ramli, M. A., Murphy, P. M., Mukhtiar, M. U., & Nsamba, H. K. (2016). Renewable based distributed generation in Uganda: Resource potential and status of exploitation. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 57, 786-798. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.151