Juba residents are yet to benefit from 100kW free power
project by the South Sudan government.
According to report from the energy, plans are currently on
the rollout of public/private partnerships to bring power to regional cities
after success of Juba grid project –$289 million has been invested in a power
plant run by Ezra Power that will provide 100 megawatts when fully completed.
The Minister for Energy and Dams, Hon. Dr. Dhieu Mathok
Diing Wol said the plant is already active and the government is providing 100
kW of free power to all users to help low income residents of Juba.
“The city grid became operational in 2019 and all homes and
businesses will have access to power by March 2020,” said Mr. Wol.
He added that the Ministry is working on the rollout of
public private partnerships to bring power to regional cities, based on the
success of its partnership with Ezra Power in Juba.
Ezra has invested $289 million in a thermal and solar power
plant that will add 100 megawatts to the grid when fully completed. A new city
grid has been constructed alongside the power generation plant.
“Electricity is a basic need and electricity is the engine
of development. If you look into the criteria used to start a development, you
will see that electricity is at the top. If we aspire to be like other
developing countries, we need to help generate electricity,” said the Minister
at the swearing in ceremony of new Undersecretary Hon. Macham Mecham Angui on
Thursday.
The ministry has acknowledged the high tariff price of the
new power system and is working on reducing it as a priority. The first 100 kW
of power is free, to help low income residents.
Former Undersecretary and new Technical Advisor Eng.
Lawrence Loku Moyu noted that the government had plans to expand the country’s
grid networks.
He said adde that, “these network expansions need human
resources to develop; we need new engineers, technicians, to bring these
expansions to South Sudan.”
Moyu further highlighted that after gaining independence in
2011, South Sudan had not yet obtained feasibility studies done by the Khartoum
government on the power sector.
Purchasing these studies and implementing their
recommendations is a strategic objective for the ministry.
“The new engineers that we are recruiting will have to study
this program from the beginning. Getting these studies and implementing their
recommendations is now a priority for us,” he said.
Source: APO
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