French oil giant TotalEnergies announced on Tuesday the acquisition of a portfolio of hydroelectric projects in Uganda, Rwanda, and Malawi, in a press release.
The group stated that it has signed an agreement with Scatec, a Norwegian renewable energy company, to acquire “100% of its subsidiary SN Power, which holds stakes in renewable hydroelectric projects in Africa, as part of a joint venture (51% SN Power) with Norfund and British International Investment (BII).”
Through this transaction, TotalEnergies “will acquire in particular a 28.3% stake in the Bujagali hydroelectric power plant, currently in operation in Uganda. With a capacity of 250 MW, it covers more than 25% of the country’s peak electricity demand.”
It will also acquire “minority stakes” in two projects under development in Rwanda (260 MW) and Malawi (360 MW), according to the press release.
In total, the oil giant indicates that it currently holds stakes in several hydroelectric projects with a gross capacity of 3.7 GW worldwide: 218 MW “installed” in France (19 MW), Portugal (33 MW), and Turkey (166 MW), as well as 1.5 GW under development in Mozambique (Mphanda Nkuwa project) and 2 GW under development by Adani Green in India.
Quoted in the press release, Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies, notably stated that his group is “delighted to be able to become a player in hydroelectric power in Uganda, a country where we are also developing a major oil project.”
This mega oil project, announced in 2022, is strongly contested by environmental and human rights organizations. It plans for 419 wells in western Uganda, a third of which are in the Murchison Falls National Park, an important biodiversity reserve.
A 1,443-kilometer pipeline is planned to transport oil from the Lake Albert deposits to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.