Umeme warns of countrywide load shedding due to floating island

Umeme has warned of possible interruption to power supply after another floating island was spotted not far from Nalubaale dam.

A couple of months back, Uganda experienced a nationwide black out after floating Islands interrupted supply at the 180 MW Nalubaale dam.

The situation led to the intervention by Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), Ministry of Agriculture and Uganda National Roads Authority who assembled equipment such as ferries, dump trucks and bull dozer, to clear the water weeds.

The floating islands' situation was a wakeup call for the need for research into hydropower systems to ensure anticipatory as opposed to reactionary solutions.

The machines which were provided by the government to eliminate floating islands included, three long arm excavators, two barges, one ferry, one hydraulic crane, three self-loading trucks, four dump trucks (20 ton) and one bulldozer.

However through it's social media platforms, Umeme advised the public to charge their devices because any time the country could experience load shedding.

"We have received information about a floating island which is likely to affect our services. We shall however do our best to maintain uninterrupted service as much as duly possible,"Umeme noted.

The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) had put out an emergency load shedding plan of 100 megawatts in case the country loses more power generation.

This means UETCL has planned to knock off 100 megawatts of power demand in case it (power demand) exceeds supply.

For instance, if generation can only supply 500 megawatts but there is demand of 600 megawatts, UETCL would knock off 100 megawatts and ration the 500 megawatts among all the customers.