The government of Uganda is set to construct the first Lake Victoria power submarine cable to evacuate electricity from the Masaka district to Bugala Island through Bukakata.

The project will be implemented through the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development.

The Lake Victoria power submarine cable project will be implemented by the CCC Engineering, a subsidiary of the Engineering Department of China National Electric Wire and Cable Imp/Exp Corporation under the supervision of the Rural Electrification Agency of Uganda (REA).

The scope of work covers surveying, structural spotting, line route profiling, and pegging, procurement, delivery to site and laying on the floor of Lake Victoria a 33 kV seven km submarine cable and two 33 kV switching sub-stations in Bukakata and Bugoma, and 27 distribution transformers.

Other tasks include construction of a medium voltage and low voltage network, installation of distribution transformers and protection equipment, and installation of last-mile connections, including supply of service cable, installation of prepaid meters and distribution ready boards to some 1,651 potential consumers.

The African Development Bank (ADB) is financing the project under the Uganda Rural Electricity Access Project to expand grid medium voltage and low voltage distribution networks spread over five service territories in 16 districts to provide last-mile connections to consumers.

The submarine cable will complement the 1.6 MWph solar power plant operated by the Kalangala Infrastructure Services, a public-private partnership (PPP) between the government and private infrastructure development venture, namely InfraCo Africa.