The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) has called on the Government of South Sudan to provide resources and security for the construction of a power transmission line that will connect the country to Uganda and the regional power grid.
Jacob Manyuon Deng, the regional power program officer for NBI, said that the project would benefit South Sudan, which has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world, with only 6 percent of the population having access to electricity.
He said that the project which is funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, aims to improve access to electricity and promote regional integration among the Nile Basin countries.
“Now we are working on the South Sudan-Uganda line which is in advanced stages of detailed studies,” he revealed. “It is 400 KV that is connecting South Sudan and Uganda and this line is going to transport the abundant hydro potential to parts of South Sudan. If this line is constructed, it will transmit power from the East Africa power pool.”
According to Manyoun, the project will also enhance the stability and security of the region by fostering cooperation and trade among the Nile Basin countries.
He said that the project which started in 2018, has faced some challenges due to the insecurity and lack of resources in South Sudan. He urged the government to allocate funds and deploy security forces to protect the contractors and their equipment.
“South Sudan is a very less developed country and we stand at 6 percent in terms of power accessibility because we do not have power in the country,” he said. “What we have is a very small capacity that was developed by a private investor known as Ezra. We need moral support, we need resources to be pumped into this project so that South Sudan can benefit from the region. The government of South Sudan is supposed to support the NBI in terms of resources and security so that construction of this line is put to speed.”
Manyuon said that the project is expected to be completed by 2025 and that South Sudan will be able to import up to 400 megawatts of electricity from Uganda. He also said that the project will create job opportunities and stimulate economic activities in the areas where the power line will pass.
The project involves the construction of a 400-kilovolt transmission line from Karuma in Uganda to Juba in South Sudan, with a total length of 392 kilometers. The project also includes the construction of substations and distribution networks in Nimule, Yei, Kaya, and Juba.
The project will also reduce the dependence on diesel generators which are costly and environmentally unfriendly.
The NBI is a regional intergovernmental partnership of 10 Nile Basin countries consisting of Burundi, D. R Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.