Commissioning and full utilization of power generated by the 600MW Karuma Hydropower Plant in Uganda will make power more affordable by reducing the tariff rate by 17.5 percent, an official said here on Monday.

Simon D'Ujanga, minister of state for energy told reporters here that the utilization of the power plant is expected to reduce the rate to 5.34 U.S. cents/kWh from the current 6.47 cents/kWh

D'Ujanga was speaking at the launch of the country's annual Energy Week held under the theme, 'Energy and Minerals for Industrialization, Job Creation and shared prosperity'.

Karuma Hydro Power Plant is one of Uganda's flagship projects financed by the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of China. The bank is financing 85 percent of the project while the rest is funded by the Ugandan government.

According to the Chinese construction contractor, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, the construction of the Karuma is nearing completion.

D'Ujanga said the country has already achieved the target of 5 cents per unit of electricity during off-peak hours for extra-large consumers like industries.

The minister said following the commissioning of another Chinese-built Isimba hydropower plant last year, the country's power generation capacity increased to 1,252 MW. Isimba generates 183MW.

He said the generation capacity is expected to rise to 2,000 MW by 2021 due to additional generation expected from Karuma and several other small hydropower plants.

In the medium and long-term, according to the minister, the government will develop large and small hydropower projects and pursue the generation of power by nuclear, solar, and wind.