Owen Falls Hep Extension, Uganda

The Owen Falls Hydroelectric Power Station, located on the Victoria Nile River, is situated approximately 3 km from Lake Victoria in Uganda.

The plant extension works were designed to provide additional capacity to the already installed 180 MW. The interventions were carried out on the right bank of the river, opposite the power station, about 800 m downstream from the existing dam. Water was channeled through a canal leading from the head pond above the existing dam to the new power station, which houses five Kaplan units of 40 MW each.

The main works completed during the extension project included the excavation and lining of the approach canal, approximately 1,400 m long; the completion of the excavation and construction of the power station and intake structure, the substructure of the power station, the service bay, and the transformer deck; the supply and installation of the steel structure for the superstructure, cladding, and roofing; the construction of wing walls adjacent to the power station and spillway to contain the head pond, and the approach wall for the power station’s approach channel; the construction of a channel connecting the draft tube exits to the river; the construction of a spillway; and the construction of a new road bridge to carry the Kampala-Jinja-Tororo road over the canal.