"Beside the revenues unlocked to advance energy transition, petroleum will provide gas to replace the use of biomass energy that has been responsible to the destruction of the environment and health effects to users of firewood for cooking," said Minister Nankabirwa.
Connecting 250 million people to electricity would open private sector investment opportunities in distributed renewable energy alone worth $9 billion. For the World Bank Group to connect 250 million people, $30 billion of public sector investment will be needed.
It comes in the wake of the historic inclusion of nuclear energy in the Global Stocktake agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in December 2023
Uganda is currently the main focus of the global new petroleum greenfield investments and its popularity has been enhanced by the fight against it by local regional and international charities, which claim that the project is a source of violation of environmental and human rights.
"Europe has developed on fossil fuel for a great part of it and the protection of the environment generally, but unfortunately, it has not been a good example to developing countries like Uganda," says German Envoy, Schauer
The report by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) highlights the relationship between global energy transition objectives and the need for stronger mining sector governance at the national and local levels.
Minister Lokeris said in developed world for example, everyone has access to the national grid for cooking, lighting and heating, while in Uganda and most of Africa, more that 80 percent of the people have no electricity, making transition meaningless.
Pouyanné in a statement said with the increased penetration of renewables globally, natural gas keeps a key role in the energy transition to ensure firm power, in addition to pushing out coal in all sectors of final demand.
According to the report, the second half of 2021 saw the beginning of the biggest energy crisis in modern history, exacerbated by the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and unprecedented global commodity shock.
Energy transition refers to the global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption — including oil, natural gas and coal — to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries.
Experts say an energy transition is underway, and the long-term future of energy is undoubtedly going to be focused on cleaner, low-carbon technologies.
While some studies and analysts say the future of the refinery sector is likely to be challenging especially in the second half of the century, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) which will own 40% of the refinery has indicated that the project will remain profitable.
