Uganda is turning the associated gas expected from its flagship oil projects into a new source of electricity, with two gas-to-power plants totalling more than 100 MW now licensed in the Albertine Graben. The facilities are designed to use gas produced alongside crude from the Tilenga and Kingfisher developments, supplying electricity to oil-field operations first and sending surplus power to the national grid as Uganda moves towards first oil.
The projects link the country’s emerging oil industry directly to its power system. Tilenga, operated by TotalEnergies, and Kingfisher, operated by CNOOC, are expected to produce a combined peak of about 215,000 barrels of oil per day. Their associated gas is intended to support power and heat requirements at processing facilities, well pads and other infrastructure, reducing the need for these operations to depend entirely on electricity supplied from the national grid.
The more than 100 MW of licensed gas-fired capacity represents the first formalised tranche of a longer-term plan to commercialise this gas resource. Earlier project and environmental documents had considered substantially larger gas-generation capacity, including options around 200 MW at the Tilenga central processing facility. The plants are expected to use gas-fired turbines or engines, with surplus electricity exported through the Tilenga Feeder and into Uganda’s wider transmission system.
For Uganda’s electricity system, the additional generation could provide something its largely hydro-based fleet does not always deliver: firm, dispatchable power that can operate when hydrological conditions weaken and can complement variable solar and wind generation. The associated gas can also be used for LPG production, with Uganda targeting significant domestic and regional LPG volumes, giving the country another way to extract economic value from gas that would otherwise have limited commercial use.
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The development therefore extends the impact of Uganda’s oil projects beyond crude production. As Tilenga and Kingfisher move towards production, associated gas is being positioned as an input for industrial power, national electricity supply and potentially regional energy trade. If the surplus generation reaches the grid as planned, Uganda’s oil build-out will not only add crude production but also create a new source of dispatchable electricity at a time when the country is seeking to diversify its generation mix and expand power supply.
