Injecting green momentum into Uganda's economic development (China-Africa cooperation in the new era)
2024-08-11
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This article is reproduced from [People's Daily Online];
The Karuma Hydropower Station, built by a Chinese company, has increased Uganda's total installed power capacity by nearly 50% and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 3.48 million tons per year.
Injecting green momentum into Uganda's economic development (China-Africa cooperation in the new era)
Overlooking the Karuma Hydropower Station.
Photo by Wang Jian
Hydropower station engineers are on duty in the underground plant.
Photo by our reporter Huang Weixin
After driving north from Kampala, the capital of Uganda, for nearly three hours, towering high-voltage iron towers came into view. "In just over an hour, we will reach the Karuma Hydropower Station. The high-voltage iron towers you see are the supporting power transmission projects of the hydropower station," driver Tifu told reporters.
The Karuma Hydropower Station is located on the White Nile River in northern Uganda. It is financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by China Hydropower Construction Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Sinohydro"). The total installed capacity is designed to be 600 megawatts. The project construction mainly includes dams, waterway systems, underground powerhouses and supporting power output projects. At the beginning of this year, the last unit of the Karuma Hydropower Station was successfully connected to the grid for power generation, marking the commissioning of all units of Uganda's largest hydropower station, injecting green momentum into Uganda's economic development.
"Greatly improve Uganda's power generation capacity and accelerate the pace of industrialization"
Climbing up the observation tower, you can see the dam in full view. A 300-meter-wide dam stretches across the White Nile River, with the surging river water pouring down through the tunnel, which is spectacular. Both sides of the dam are covered with lush vegetation and greenery.
After all the units of Karuma Hydropower Station are connected to the grid, Uganda's total installed power capacity will increase from 1,278 megawatts to 1,878 megawatts, an increase of nearly 50%. It will save about 1.31 million tons of raw coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.48 million tons each year, providing Uganda with a steady supply of green energy. Paul Tumwine, the project owner's representative and project manager of Uganda National Electricity Corporation, said that Karuma Hydropower Station provides a new opportunity for Uganda's industrial development.
Uganda is one of the countries with the lowest per capita electricity consumption in the world, with only about 15% of the country's population using electricity from the national grid. According to Ugandan government statistics, after the commissioning of the Karuma Hydropower Station, Uganda's electricity prices dropped by 17.5%, making electricity more affordable for more people. Ugandan President Museveni has inspected the project many times and said: "The Karuma Hydropower Station has greatly improved Uganda's power generation capacity, accelerated the pace of industrialization, and attracted more foreign investors."
After arriving at the side of the dam and passing through a tunnel, the reporter walked into the underground powerhouse of the hydropower station. Six bright yellow turbine generator sets were lined up in order. Chinese project manager Ding Tuqiang introduced to the reporter: "This is an underground cavern complex. Not only the underground powerhouse, but also the main transformer chamber and tailwater surge chamber are set up here. There are also two 8.6-kilometer-long tailwater tunnels winding through the Murchison Falls National Forest Park."
Ding Tuqiang said that the hydropower station is located in a plain. If the medium-high dam ground power plant is used, the area occupied by the hydropower station and the flooded area after the dam is filled with water will cause irreversible damage to the local ecological environment. For the sake of protecting the ecology, the project adopts the layout of "underground power plant + long tailwater tunnel".
Since the hydropower station is adjacent to the Murchison Falls National Forest Park, which is rich in flora and fauna, the Karuma Hydropower Station has fully considered the protection of environmentally sensitive areas from the early design to the actual construction. Tumuwine told reporters that the ground dam adopts a low dam design to shorten the length of the newly added river channel flooded after the hydropower station stores water, so as to reduce the impact on flora and fauna in the dam area; a special ecological fishway is designed to ensure the growth and reproduction of fish and reduce the barrier effect of the dam on migratory fish, etc. "The design plan of the Chinese company has effectively protected the local ecological environment."
“People’s lives are getting better and better, and the town is getting more and more lively.”
After leaving the project camp and driving north for about 20 minutes, the reporter arrived at the Diqiuni Community Hospital built by Sinohydro. In the spacious and bright waiting hall, patients and their accompanying family members were waiting for treatment in an orderly manner. Flavia, the head of the hospital, told reporters that in the past, people had to go to a hospital more than 10 kilometers away for treatment. "With this hospital, everyone can receive medical services nearby."
Flavia led the reporter to visit the hospital, which has complete departments such as examination rooms, treatment rooms, general outpatient rooms, laboratories, radiology rooms, physical therapy rooms, and pharmacies, as well as complete diagnostic and treatment equipment such as microscopes, laboratory instruments, vaccine and drug storage refrigerators, physical therapy facilities, and ultrasound scanners. "The hospital's hardware facilities are very good, and we can provide patients with a wide variety of medical services." Flavia's face was full of smiles.
"This is one of the two hospitals we built." Wang Jian, head of the general department of the Karuma Hydropower Station project, said that during the construction of the hydropower station, in addition to the hospital, the project department also built a primary school for the local area, set up an orphan fund, donated trade markets, built wells and bridges, and provided free health diagnosis and treatment. "Now when the local community encounters difficulties, the first thing they think of is us."
Near noon, the reporter arrived at the center of Karuma Town. Along the way, supermarkets, restaurants, and auto repair shops were built on the street, and small vendors enthusiastically sold their products to pedestrians. Walking into a restaurant next to Karuma Primary School, the owner Beatrice warmly invited the reporter to sit down. "I came here shortly after the hydropower station started construction, thinking there was an opportunity to do business here. The decision was absolutely right!" Beatrice said that there were not many people in the whole town before, but now it is completely different. Local people have jobs and income, and more children are going to school.
With the arrival of Chinese companies, a large number of migrant workers have flocked in, either to work in the hydropower station or to open shops and restaurants in the town. "People's lives are getting better and better, and the town is getting more and more lively," said the town mayor, Addua Kana. "With the help of Chinese companies, the town's facilities are becoming more complete. We have clean water and can remove domestic garbage in a timely manner. The town has become sanitary and clean."
"The joint construction of the 'Belt and Road' project has brought more development opportunities to Uganda"
When the reporter drove back to the project camp, he met local engineer Ayebazibwe Blaise. "This is the largest hydropower station in Uganda, and many people want to work here." Blaise told reporters that this project is huge and complex, which brought him an unprecedented work experience. "When I first came to the project, I was inexperienced, and my Chinese colleagues were very patient and taught me to learn while working. Now, I have been working on the project for almost 5 years, and my professional and technical skills have been greatly improved. The experience gained from this job has been very helpful to me."
"Bryce is already a technical backbone who can handle things on his own," said Sun Jing, a staff member of the project's general affairs department. Bryce had independently completed most of the construction drawings and construction plan preparation for the project's asphalt concrete roads, and he is well-known in the project's engineering and technical department. Sun Jing smiled and said, "He has also found love here!"
"My wife Monica works in the equipment and materials department." Bryce shyly introduced that when he first came to the project department, he met Monica because he received work shoes. The two supported each other in work and life and eventually got married. He said: "I cherish every day working here, not only because my wife and I met here, but also because I benefited a lot from my work and grew into a professional civil engineering engineer."
Since the start of the Karuma Hydropower Station project, local employees accounted for more than 85%. At the peak, nearly 6,000 local workers were signed, and more than 15,000 Ugandan employees have been employed. The project department has always adhered to the concept of teaching people how to fish, and has cultivated professional and skilled talents through professional skills training, master-apprentice pairing, labor competitions, etc. A group of local employees including Bryce and Monica have become the backbone of the project construction.
On the way back to Kampala, Tiff introduced to reporters the roads built by Chinese companies, the factories invested in, the hospitals and stadiums built with Chinese aid, etc. Tiff is from Jinja, a city in eastern Uganda, and has worked at Sinohydro for more than nine years. "My life is getting better day by day. I have my own family and help my parents support my younger brother's schooling. I also bought a car and am renovating my new house."
In a cafe in Kampala, the reporter shared what he saw and heard at the Karuma Hydropower Station with Ivy Semanda, founder of the Ugandan think tank Development Observation Center. "The Karuma Hydropower Station is of great significance to Uganda. With electricity, there will be factories, economic development and improvement of people's livelihood. The joint construction of the 'Belt and Road' projects, including the Karuma Hydropower Station, has brought more development opportunities to Uganda," Semanda said.
Kampala-Entebbe Airport Expressway, Isimba Hydropower Station, China-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park... Semanda is familiar with all the Belt and Road projects jointly built by China and Uganda. He said: "Uganda has gained tangible benefits from the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road."
(Our Kampala correspondent)
People's Daily (Page 03, August 11, 2024)
