The ceremony, held at the Mbarara South Substation in western Uganda on Thursday, underscored a deep Uganda–United Kingdom partnership and attracted Energy Minister Dr. Monica Musenero and British High Commissioner to Uganda H.E. Lisa Chesney.
Chesney said the project reflects Uganda’s leadership in clean energy and its efforts to strengthen transmission infrastructure to support economic growth.
“This means an awful lot more than that. It speaks to Uganda’s amazing leadership on clean energy. Your electricity mix is almost entirely renewable, it is reliable, clean and affordable, and improving transmission will make a real difference under the ministry’s leadership,” Chesney said.
The Amari project introduces a public-private partnership model into a sector that has traditionally relied on public financing constraints. It is being developed by Gridworks, a company backed by the UK’s British International Investment, in partnership with the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL).
Chesney said the collaboration would help strengthen electricity transmission, which she described as critical for economic growth and Uganda’s long-term development ambitions.
Energy Minister Dr. Monica Musenero said the project is a key pillar in Uganda’s industrialisation drive and broader ambition for tenfold economic growth over the next 15 years.
She said the government is prioritising infrastructure investments that do not rely on public borrowing.
“This project, which is financed through approximately USD 50 million of private capital mobilised and deployed without recourse to our national budget, opens a new window to accelerate our development,” Musenero said.
She added that the initiative demonstrates that transmission infrastructure can attract private investment, previously considered the preserve of public financing.
The project is expected to expand Uganda’s national transmission capacity and improve system reliability.
Its technical scope includes increasing total transformer capacity from 7,170 MVA to 7,870 MVA and reducing technical grid losses that often cause voltage fluctuations affecting industrial power supply.
Under the engineering, procurement and construction works contracted to Siemens Energy, upgrades will be carried out at four key substations: Mbarara North (132kV), Mbarara South (220kV), Nkenda (132kV) in western Uganda, and Tororo (220kV) in the east.
Beyond domestic supply stability, the upgraded infrastructure is expected to enhance Uganda’s capacity to export electricity to regional markets, including Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Uganda currently generates surplus clean energy, and officials say the strengthened transmission network will help unlock regional power trade.
The project is already under construction, with commissioning expected in 2028. Officials say it represents a shift toward private-sector participation in large-scale transmission infrastructure and could serve as a model for future energy investments in Africa.