Published on 30/05/2025
Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has announced the completion of replacing at least 116 faulty transformers in the last 60 days.
On March 31, UEDCL officially took over electricity distribution operations from UMEME Limited, marking the end of the latter’s 20-year concession.
Updating the country on Wednesday about the first 57 days, the head of corporate affairs at UEDCL, Jonan Kiiza said having taken over a dilapidated network, they have started with replacing faulty transformers.
“The 116 faulty transformers that we inherited on 1 April 2025 in the different parts of the country have all been replaced, hence improving power reliability in these communities. These transformers we have replaced range capacities 25kVA to 1MVA,” Kiiza said.
UEDCL also commented on an ongoing loadshedding schedule that the said is meant to help them replace the dilapidated electricity network.
“Additionally, UETCL had scheduled maintenance and upgrade shutdowns at the Mutundwe, Namanve, Kawanda, Nkenda and Mbarara North substations to emphasize this. Our consumers nationwide have experienced some inconvenience, but every effort is being made to increase the sector’s sustainability and power reliability.”
According to UEDCL, their connection teams are working on new connections and that the required meters are in stock.
Kiiza said that there is no longer a need for middlemen because the online application system is completely operational.
“Since the second week of April 2025, new connections are ongoing but are handled on a first come, first served basis. The applications which were in the system first are being worked on first. However, by the end of the year, we will have completed the backlog.”
UEDCL officials said with the $74m (about shs274b) capex as approved by ERA for the first-year capital investments; projects set include refurbishing lines, upgrading and establishing new substations, and installing over 518 transformers in high-demand areas before close of the year.
“The goal of these improvements is to create a robust distribution network to satisfy the increasing demand.”
