By William Madouk
African Development Bank Group (AFDB) has announced last stage to start a mammoth power plant worth $200 million in South Sudan.
Country manager for AFDB, South Sudan, Mr. Themba Bhebhe made the declaration in Juba.
“I just want to confirm that approval of the financing is now in place. It’s just now the launch and the administrative issues that are supposed to be set for implementation of the project,” Bhebhe told journalists.
He expected the project to begin at the end of this year, claiming that Uganda’s major electricity project will lower the country’s power prices per kilowatt to 11 or 12 cents per hour.
“So, in terms of implementation, for instance, the project is going to start towards the end of this year (2024)”
Bhebhe stated that the AFDB would sign a finance deal with the government and the EU, as well as officially launch the project.
He further stated that the project will be implemented directly through the electricity utility business.
“This is about a five-year project, assuming that there is peace along that corridor and we don’t anticipate any problem that can disturb the implementation of that project,”
“So, yes, I can confirm that the bank has mobilized enough resources in partnership with the EU to implement that project,”
Mr. Bhebhe stated that South Sudan is experiencing three-dimensional power challenges, including supply, inadequate generation, distribution, and cost, with research, estimating a cost per kilowatt of 42.
The average varies based on whether you are home or industrial, he continued.
“So, if you look at the region now, it costs about an average from what I understand, about 10 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour. Which means the South Sudanese pays four times higher than their counterpart in the region,”
Because of the energy input, the country is now unable to export the water that it produces.
“What that project is going to do is significantly reduce tariff to an average of about 11 or 12 cents per kilowatt hour,”