On 3rd February 2022, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu chaired the 16th Council of Ministers (COM) meeting of the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) at Serena Kigo.
The Council of Ministers, which is the highest governing body of the EAPP and ratifies decisions made by the Steering Committee and the Independent Regulatory Board (IRB), ratified the IRB’s decision to relocate its secretariat to Kampala, Uganda. The Council also reviewed the draft bilateral trade framework agreement. Upon consent of this agreement and the market rules, the initial electricity trading activities will commence in 2024.
The Eastern Africa Power Pool is a regional institution established in 2005 to coordinate cross-border power trade and grid interconnection among nations of the Eastern Africa region. This power trade will enable proper and effective utilization of the region’s energy resources for the benefit of the respective citizens. IRB’s mandate is to provide fair and effective regulatory services to facilitate the development and efficient operation of the regional electricity market in Eastern Africa and ensure a conducive environment for regional infrastructure investments.
The EAPP currently has eleven (11) member countries that signed the Inter-Governmental Memorandum of Understanding (IGMOU) and fourteen utilities that signed the Inter-Utility Memorandum of Understanding (IUMOU).
The pool comprises the following countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Libya. South Sudan and Somalia joined recently and there is a possibility that Eritrea may join. The EAPP’s General Secretariat is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a mandate to coordinate the development and functioning /operation of the power pool.
The current member utilities are; REGIDESO of Burundi, SNEL of DRC, EEHC of Egypt, EEP of Ethiopia, GECOL of Libya, KenGen of Kenya, KPLC of Kenya, KETRACO of Kenya, REG of Rwanda, SETCO of Sudan, SINELAC of DRC – Rwanda – Burundi, TANESCO of Tanzania, UETCL of Uganda, EDD of Djibouti and the newly joined SSEC of South Sudan and Electricity utilities of Somalia.
The 16th Council of Ministers’ meeting was notably attended by the EAPP Steering Committee Chairperson Mr. Michael Taremwa, the Acting Managing Director of UETCL, the Chairperson of the Independent Regulatory Board, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Electricity Regulatory Authority, Eng. Ziria Tibalwa Waako, and Ministers from member countries.
