UGANDA, VIETNAM LAUNCH ADVANCED NEW ENERGY INCENTIVES

Uganda Launches Sophisticated Feed-in Tariff Program; Vietnam Drafts FIT Proposal
Paul Gipe, January 20, 2011 (Wind Works)

:…[T]he US's former military foe, Vietnam…dipped its toe into the feed-in tariff waters by announcing a draft proposal…[But] Uganda…set heads spinning…Quietly, without fanfare, Uganda has announced one of the most sophisticated, if not the most sophisticated program in Africa.

"…Vietnam's program is ill-defined and limited, providing a tariff only for wind energy…[and] the tariff is supplemented by a government subsidy, presumably paid by taxpayers in the communist country…In addition, Vietnam will also provide preferential loans and tax abatement for selected projects."

click thru to Paul Gipe's Wind-Works for the best feed-in tariff info on the web

"…Ugandans have quiety launched a program they simply call a Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT). Uganda follows South Africa and Algeria with early feed-in tariff programs. However, Uganda appears to have learned lessons from other programs worldwide. The Uganda program offers tariffs for a full suite of technologies, including geothermal and bagasse, detailed hydro tariffs, as well as technology specific program caps."

click thru to Paul Gipe's Wind-Works for the best feed-in tariff info on the web

"Of particular interest are the highly differentiated tariffs for hydro projects from one to eight megawatts…Further, the Uganda program specifies capacity caps for each technology by year. This is clear policy guidance on how much the country wants of which technology.

"…[Summary:] Project size cap: <20 MW…Inflation adjustment based on O&M costs of tariff…Administered by Uganda's Electric Regulatory Authority (ERA)…Tariffs based on the cost of generation plus profit…Hydro tariffs differentiated by size in 100 kW increments…Tariffs for eight different technologies, including geothermal…Program capacity caps by technology and by year…"