Bujagali Hydroelectric Plant, Uganda

A plant that, by itself, is capable of sustainably covering half of the energy needs of the nation that hosts it. This is the case for the Bujagali hydroelectric plant, located on the upper course of the Victoria Nile in Uganda.

The complex, located about ten kilometers downstream from the sources of the great African river, can be seen as a symbol of the fruitful dialogue between different technical and organizational cultures. It has helped end a difficult period for Uganda in terms of energy supply. The project was awarded by Bujagali Energy Ltd and involved the participation of 4,000 Ugandan workers alongside 250 people from 50 different nationalities.

With its installed capacity of 250 MW, Bujagali is one of the largest hydroelectric plants on the entire continent. The project, which includes an open-air hydroelectric power plant, a gravity dam, two spillways, and other complementary works, was completed exactly in five years, from June 2007 to June 2012, and was approved by the client in August of the following year.

The project is characterized by an open-air hydroelectric power plant that houses five Kaplan turbines of 51MW each; a dam approximately 900 meters long; and two spillways, one regulated with sector gates and the other of the automatic siphon type; and finally three different sections of rockfill dam with a clay core.
Sponsored by the World Bank, the initiative involved a long list of stakeholders and financiers from both the public and private sectors from various countries. For this reason, in 2007, Bujagali was named Project Finance Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine.

In 2012, it was recognized as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Project by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Additionally, thanks to the integrated management of Corporate Governance aspects, it received several international awards, including the prestigious Uganda Responsible Investor (URI) Award in Uganda for two consecutive years, in 2012 and 2013.