GULU HAS SUFFICIENT POWER CAPACITY TO SUPPORT NEW INVESTMENTS- UEDCL

A UEDCL staff in the field.

By Biko Rombe

Gulu City

Gulu City has sufficient electricity capacity to support new industrial, commercial and domestic investments, the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has said.

The assurance comes more than a year after UEDCL took over electricity distribution services from Umeme on April 1, 2025, with the utility saying it has since been working to improve supply reliability while preparing the network to accommodate growing demand.

UEDCL Gulu Area Manager Poline Karabyo says the Gulu service area is currently operating with adequate installed capacity across its major supply points, with sufficient reserve margins to support both existing consumers and new investors.

She says the available capacity presents an opportunity for industrialists and other investors seeking to establish businesses in Gulu and the surrounding areas.

“Gulu service area is currently operating with adequate installed capacity across all major supply points. The area has sufficient margins to supply the existing demand and also accommodate new industrial, commercial and domestic load growth,” Karabyo said.

According to Karabyo, the 2026 substation capacity analysis shows reserve margins of 96.8 percent at Kole Substation, 88.1 percent at Gulu UEDCL Substation, 88.2 percent at Agago Substation and 100 percent at Aswa Dam.

She says the substations are distributed across different locations, meaning investors can benefit from improved reliability and quality of supply by locating facilities closer to the major supply points. Karabyo says UEDCL has also seen improvements in power stability since the initial period following the takeover.

She attributes this partly to a skilled workforce carrying out maintenance and responding to faults, as well as improved customer service.

However, while the available generation and substation capacity may support new investment, UEDCL says parts of the distribution network still face challenges arising from aging infrastructure.

UEDCL Technical Assistant for Operations and Maintenance in Gulu, Okello Stephen Opwonya, says some network components have operated beyond their intended lifespan, increasing their vulnerability to faults and interruptions.

“One of the major challenges affecting supply reliability is the aging electricity distribution infrastructure in some parts of our service territory. Some network components have already served beyond their intended operational lifespan and it results in increased vulnerability to faults and interruptions,” Opwonya said.

Opwonya says UEDCL has contracted service providers to undertake network improvement works, with the refurbishment expected to address some of the infrastructure challenges. He says some of the works will require planned power interruptions in parts of Gulu as the network is upgraded.

Opwonya also links some supply interruptions to activities around electricity infrastructure, including bush burning, illegal connections, construction and tree planting under power lines.

He says communities need to work with UEDCL and local leaders to protect electricity installations, warning that vandalism and other illegal activities can cause faults, outages and even fatalities.

The need to protect the electricity network is also being emphasised by the Electricity Regulatory Authority.

Kenneth Muhumuza, ERA Northern Region Supervisor, says electricity consumers have a right to reliable supply, but also have an obligation to protect the infrastructure that delivers the service.

Muhumuza says vandalism of major transmission infrastructure has already affected alternative power supply routes, leaving some areas more vulnerable to outages.

“Currently we have a power line which was vandalized. The towers of the line that brings power from Karuma to Oryo was vandalized and it’s currently down for several months because those ones normally take very long to replace,” Muhumuza said.

He says some areas now have only one alternative power supply because another line has been vandalised, meaning a fault on the remaining supply route could result in widespread outages.

“Many areas have only one alternative supply because the second alternative was vandalized. So, if we got a fault on this other one, it would mean that the whole area would go out,” he said.

Muhumuza is calling on consumers and communities to protect power lines, transformers and other electricity infrastructure from vandalism and damage.

With significant reserve capacity at several substations and ongoing investment in network improvements, UEDCL says Gulu has the electricity capacity required to accommodate increased demand from industries, commercial establishments and domestic consumers.

The utility is encouraging potential investors to take advantage of the available capacity as network refurbishment continues to improve the reliability of electricity supply in the area.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis