Finding Potential Sites for Small-Scale Hydro Power in Uganda: a ...

For the specific case of Uganda, a country of 24 million people, it is estimated that lessthan 4% of the population has access to electricity, and that only 1% of the ruralpopulation of 20 – 21 million enjoys its benefits. This situation results in hindrances,making everyday duties hard and time consuming, which in turn complicates the processof development. For example, particularly the women spend a great deal of time andenergy on collecting wood or finding other solutions such as diesel generators or carbatteries for satisfying their energy needs (www.sida.se). Furthermore, after sunset inUganda, which is at 6 PM throughout the year, the rural population must rely on torches,candles or small kerosene lamps for light, which causes health and environmentalproblems. Work at night is not possible and economic development, even in daylight, islimited without electric power (ovonics.com).Rural Electrification Agency’s (REA) main approach to amend Uganda’s prevailingenergy situation is through extension of the grid to rural areas. This measure has beensporadic at best, due to the lack of available funds. Also the dispersed nature of thepopulation, difficulties in billing and collection, continuing capacity shortages and thehigh cost of grid extensions contributes to the complicated situation and makes the gridextension impractical for much of the population for the foreseeable future.An efficient, relatively cheap and one of the most environmentally friendly alternatives tothe grid based electrification is small-scale hydropower stations. Small-scale hydropowersystems capture the energy in flowing water and convert it to usable energy (www.smallhydro.com).The capacity for most stand-alone hydro systems not interlinked to the grid,and suitable for “run-of-the-river” installation reaches up to 500 kW, and the potentialdepend on the availability of a suitable water flow. Where the resource exists it canprovide cheap, clean and reliable electricity. A well-designed small-scale hydropowersystem can blend with its surroundings and have minimal negative environmentalimpacts (www.small-hydro.com; Fraenkel et al., 1991).Moreover, small-scale hydropower stations have a huge, as yet untapped potential inmost areas of the world and can make a significant contribution to future energy needs.It depends largely on already developed and proven technology, yet there is considerablescope for development and optimisation (www.small-hydro.com).2