Uganda’s government has started preliminary discussions on how to reconfigure thermal power plants that use Heavy Fuel Oil into projects that can use natural gas to generate power.

The proposal is part of government’s bid to further polish its image as a country that is committed to wiping out dirty fuels from its energy mix, and also wean itself of annual expenses it incurs in maintaining these plants.

While natural gas is also sometimes considered a dirty fuel, it is not as toxic is heavy fuel oil, which spews more carbon emissions.

“The future is hostile to heavy fuel oil (HFO),” Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, said while meeting members of Parliament’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee on April 2, 2026, to present the Ministerial Policy Statement (MPS) for consideration for next financial year’s national budget (FY2026/27).

“Namanve currently uses HFO. We are discussing on how to convert it into [using] natural gas,” she said.

Uganda has two key thermal power generation plants running on the expensive heavy fuel oil – the 42MW plant in Namanve run by the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL), and the 50MW plant in Tororo owned by Electromaxx.

These plants, which account for less than 2% of the country’s installed capacity, are only switched on in the event of an abrupt shortage in power generation.

The same proposal of turning the Namanve plant into one that uses natural gas been considered for the Electromaxx plant, especially after government entered into a five-year Implementation Agreement with the company in 2023.

The Implementation Agreement allows Electromaxx to operate and maintain the thermal power plant for a period of five years at a capacity charge of USD 3 cents per KW per hour, which government pays through Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL).

At the end of the five years, government will take over the thermal power plant at USD 1.

The move to take on Electromaxx is a strong indication of the importance government attaches on these thermal power plants.

In December 2023 during the COP28 summit in Dubai, Uganda launched its Energy Transition Plan (ETP), where the country committed to fully go green by 2065.

The country promised to, among other interventions, reduce its dependence on HFO plants in a phased manner.

Since Uganda introduced the first HFO plant nearly two decades ago, government officials argue that it is cheaper to have these standby generators than going through the long and tedious process of procuring a new service provider in the event of a drastic drop in energy supply.

As such, government has the obligation of paying for the capacity maintenance costs of these plants, something that appears to unsettle some members of Parliament.

Patrick Nsamba, the MP for Kassanda North County, Kassanda district, believes government’s reason of maintaining thermal power plants is outdated.

“You used to tell us the same argument before Karuma and Isimba power plants were constructed,” Nsamba said, wondering why government continues to spend huge amounts of money – estimated at more than $20 million annually – on plants that remain largely idle for a big part of the year when bigger power generation plants have been commissioned in the recent past.

Nankabirwa argued that it was better to be ready when a problem arises than look for a solution in real time during a calamity.

Uganda plans to import gas for electricity generation from Tanzania through a proposed pipeline. Currently, studies are being undertaken over the route and model of the gas pipeline. There are no indications that this pipeline will be in place in the near future.