Uganda power plant turns on the juice

The first unit of the Karuma Hydropower Plant in Uganda, commissioned by Sinohydro Corp, started to generate power and was connected to the grid on March 22, according to Sinohydro Engineering Bureau & Co.

The project, whose construction began in 2013, is located on the Nile River about 270 kilometers from Kampala, Uganda's capital.

With a total project investment of $1.69 billion and a total installed capacity of 600 megawatts (the capacity of each unit is 100 MW), it is the country's largest hydropower station and the 14th-largest underground hydropower station in the world, the company said.

When all of its six units are put into operation, it will greatly enhance Uganda's power generation capacity to 1,878 MW, an increase of nearly 50 percent, the company said.

Sinohydro Engineering, headquartered in Changsha, Hunan province, is involved in the construction of more than 30 projects at home and abroad.