Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Development · Mixed

Power, not price, may cap Uganda's mining build-out

Generation capacity is a national statistic. Transmission to a pit in Busia or Yumbe is a project-level one.

By Daniel OkechoCorrespondent, East African Mining5 min read

Capacity versus delivery

Uganda's large hydro additions changed the national generation picture materially. Mine processing plants, however, need firm supply at stable voltage at a specific location, and evacuation and distribution infrastructure has not kept pace uniformly across the mineral districts.

The cost of self-generation

Diesel back-up at scale can add a meaningful figure per ounce to operating cost, and it is the first thing to review in any Ugandan project economics that assume grid tariffs. Hybrid solar and storage is increasingly the sensible base case for medium-scale sites.

The policy opportunity

Industrial connection to mineral districts is a comparatively cheap way to convert surplus generation into export value. It is also the enabler for onshore processing that the value-addition agenda depends on.

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