By: OrePulse

Dubai-based developer AMEA Power has brought its 24MWp Ituka solar photovoltaic project in Uganda's West Nile region into commercial operation, becoming the region's first solar independent power producer, according to a company statement.

The plant, located in Uleppi in Madi Okollo District, is also the largest installed-capacity IPP in the West Nile region. It is expected to generate about 53,940 MWh of clean energy annually, enough to supply more than 192,640 households, while offsetting an estimated 26,600 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

Ituka West Nile Uganda Limited, a company wholly owned by AMEA Power, implemented the $27 million project. According to the statement, it was financed through a mix of debt and equity from AMEA Power and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF). Power is sold under a purchase agreement with Uganda's state transmission utility, the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL). A 25 MVA, 132/33 kV substation supporting the project was energized in July 2026.

"The successful commercial operation of the 24MWp solar PV plant is an important milestone for AMEA Power and for Uganda's energy sector," AMEA Power chairman Hussain Al Nowais said in the statement.

AMEA Power describes itself as a Dubai-headquartered renewable energy developer with operations across 20 countries, a pipeline of more than 6GW of projects, and more than 2,600MW in operation or under construction spanning wind, solar and energy storage.

The West Nile region has historically lagged the rest of Uganda in grid connectivity, and the Ituka project's designation as the area's first solar IPP underscores continued investor interest in extending utility-scale renewable generation to less-electrified parts of East Africa. EAIF's involvement, as a specialist infrastructure financier backed by donor and development finance institutions, points to continued blended-finance appetite for mid-sized African power projects that combine private equity with concessional or development capital.

The project adds to a wave of independent power producer deals across East Africa in recent years, as governments look to private developers and blended-finance vehicles to expand generation capacity without relying solely on state utility balance sheets. For Uganda, whose grid has traditionally been concentrated around the capital Kampala and the country's south and west, a utility-scale solar plant in the West Nile region — a part of the country long served largely by isolated mini-grids or diesel generation — represents an extension of grid-connected renewable capacity into a historically underserved area.

UETCL's offtake agreement with the Ituka project gives the state utility a further source of clean generation to add to its supply mix as it works to meet growing electricity demand nationally. AMEA Power's continued build-out in the region, alongside its stated pipeline of more than 6GW of projects across 20 countries, suggests further solar and wind additions are likely as the company scales its East African portfolio.