Tororo Thermal Power Station

Tororo Thermal Power Station
Location of Tororo Thermal Power Station in Uganda
Country Uganda
Location Tororo
Coordinates 00°38′14″N 34°07′00″E / 0.63722°N 34.11667°ECoordinates: 00°38′14″N 34°07′00″E / 0.63722°N 34.11667°E
Status Operational
Commission date 2010
Owner(s) Electro-Maxx Limited
Thermal power station
Primary fuel heavy fuel oil
Secondary fuel biodiesel
Tertiary fuel crude oil
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 90 MW

Tororo Thermal Power Station is a 70 MW heavy fuel oil-fired thermal power plant located in the town of Tororo in Tororo District, in Eastern Uganda.[1]

Location

The power station is located in Tororo, approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of downtown, along the Tororo–Bugiri Road. This location lies approximately 230 kilometres (140 mi), by road, east of Kampala, the capital of Uganda and the largest city in that East African country.[2] The coordinates of Tororo Power Station are:0°38'14.0"N, 34°07'00.0"E (Latitude:0.637222; Longitude:34.116667).[3]

Overview

Tororo Thermal Power Station is owned and operated by Electro-Maxx Limited, a private energy provider in Uganda, who built the power plant at an estimated cost of US$60 million.[4] The plant uses heavy fuel oil (HFO), a byproduct of petroleum distillation.[5] The plant currently imports HFO but in the future, it will leverage the country's natural assets and obtain domestically produced HFO or crude oil. The initial power station was fully commissioned in September 2010.[6]

Upgrade

In August 2012, Ugandan print media reported that the power station was in the process of upgrading the plant's capacity to 80 MW, at an estimated cost of US$60 million (UGX:148 billion). The upgrade was expected to be complete by September 2012.[7] The actual upgrade however was from 20MW to 70MW. The upgrade was completed in October 2012 and the plant's maximum rated capacity is 70MW (16.4MW from the old plant running Niigata Engines and a further 53MW from the new plant with Sulzer engines). Upon commissioning of the plant, Electro-Maxx became the first indigenous independent power producer in Africa for power plants with capacity greater than 20 Megawatts.[1] The power plant is currently licensed by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) to provide up to 50MW to the national power grid.

Operation

The Tororo thermal power plant resumed operations in February 2014 with consistent dispatch. During 2013, the plant was on standby, producing power only when specifically needed, such as a maintenance issue at a hydropower station. The standby period in 2013 resulted from a temporary high supply versus demand for power following the commissioning of the 250MW Bujagali Power Station. With only 12 percent electrification and large industrial growth, demand is rising consistently, which increases the power required from the Tororo power plant.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kasita, Ibrahim (28 November 2012). "Electro-Maxx Switches On US$60 Million Power Plant". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Map Showing Kampala and Tororo with Distance Marker". Globefeed.com. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Google, . "Location of Tororo Thermal Power Station At Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Kasita, Ibrahim (23 June 2009). "Thermal Power Firm Lights Up Tororo". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  5. ↑ David Ssempijja, and Ibrahim Kasita (21 December 2009). "Tororo Thermal Plant To Be Commissioned In August". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Kasita, Ibrahim (29 December 2009). "Electromaxx Tests 20MW Power Plant". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  7. ↑ Kalyango, Ronald (2 August 2012). "80MW More For The Grid". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Muhumuza, Mark Keith (22 January 2014). "Heavy Fuel Electricity Could Return In 2014 As Demand Hits 12%". Uganda Radio Network. Retrieved 24 December 2014.

External links