Uganda pilot PV project extended through September

The three-year Uganda Photovoltaic Pilot Project for Rural Electrification (UPPPRE) to provide 2,000 off-grid households with PV systems, which was scheduled to end last December, has been extended to September due to funding-flow problems.

Bena Benon, senior energy analyst with the Ministry for Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), says a new end-user credit mechanism, including a lower 9 percent interest rate and a two-year repayment period, has been introduced.

Benon says one benefit of the project was that MEMD removed import and value-added taxes on modules. As for eliminating taxes on the balance of systems components, Benon says »discussions are still continuing.«

As part of the project, MEMD is expected to complete a comprehensive study on PV in the country by October. The lessons learned from the UPPPRE will be used in the upcoming World Bank/GEF four-year Energy for Rural Transformation Program (see PI 3/2002, p. 8). Benon says MEMD has started to consider another PV project on public awareness, marketing, end-user credit, and after-sales infrastructure.

 

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, April 2002