Ezra Power Plant at Kondokoro, is limited to Juba only, yet many are not connected I Eye Radio

A select parliamentary committee on President Kiir’s April 3rd speech has urged the government to revisit the stalled Fulla Dam initiative to avoid importation of power from ‘other’ countries.

South Sudan only imports power from Sudan to Upper Nile’s Renk County.

More than a week ago, the Ugandan government reportedly negotiated a 180-million-dollar agreement with a Chinese company to build a hydropower transmission line to South Sudan.

On 13 May, a delegation of the Chinese firm Sinohydro Corporation Limited met Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, according to his office.

The project targets the construction of a 138-kilometre high-voltage transmission line to take power to South Sudan.

This is as the Sinohydro is completing a 1.5 billion US dollar -600-megawatt hydropower project on the River Nile in northern Uganda that is meant to be the source for electricity exports to South Sudan.

In February this year, Uganda said it was planning to construct hydroelectric power transmission lines from Nwoya District to Juba following an “urgent” request from the South Sudan government.

During Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting, the lawmakers directed the government to avoid importing power from other countries.

They also directed the Ministry of Electricity to complete the installation of the solar power plant in Nesitu along the Juba-Nimule highway to rescue the citizens from the current power monopoly.

(The committee) Directs the National Ministry of Electricity to complete the commissioning of the solar power plant in Nesitu in May to rescue the citizens from the exploitative Monopoly of extensive JEDCO generator power

(The urge committee ) urges the government to revisit Fulla Dam to avoid importing power from other countries, and the government to review the already existing subsidy with JEDCO.

“(The committee) urges the government to establish women and youth and enterprise development fund as per R-ARCSS provisions,” said Petro Juoj, the Deputy Chairperson of the select committee on the deliberation of the speech of the President.